Recently, the Greek Trade Greek Trade Office of New York - under the new leadership of Counselor Apostolos Digbassanis - and the Federation of Greek Maricultures (SETH) organized a promotional luncheon at the Helsmley Park Lane Hotel in order to celebrate the greatest success story of Greek food exports in the US during the past five years. Almost 100 top fish importers, whole sellers, chefs, restaurant owners and members of the media were present, some of them traveling all the way from Baltimore or Boston to attend this event, which was really a first for this particular kind of product (it will be repeated in 2011).

Mr Akis Ventiris, Director General of SETH, and Mr Basil Sudborough, Marketing Manager of Selonda (one of the biggest fish producers in Greece since 1981), spoke about the unsurpassed quality, taste and freshness of Greek fish. More and more Americans consume big quantities of delicious fresh fish, such as branzino and dorade which travel 5.000 miles by plane to America, especially to New York City. Although these comprise some wild-caught fish, too, they are mainly the products of the booming Greek aquaculture sector, which didn’t even exist 30 years ago, but it has become the most powerful in Europe.

The fact that Americans and especially New Yorkers pay an ever growing attention to healthy food has been tremendously beneficial for the Greek fish industry: from less than $5 million (import value) in 2004, Greek fish exports to the US tripled to almost $15 million in 2009, thus becoming the fourth most important food export. The Greek Trade Office in New York estimates that by the end of 2010 - or by 2011 the latest - fish will surpass cheese and olive oil, being second only to table olives, as far as Greek food exports to the US are concerned.

Regardless of the benefits to the Greek economy, Greek fish is also very beneficial to our health, because of the unique quantity of Omega 3 fat acids it contains and the fact that contrary to the case of the American farmed salmon, no mercury or other harmful materials are used. No wonder then that an ever greater number of restaurants and households go Greek when it comes to fish, something that European consumers have discovered long ago.