Hosts in Qingdao: CFSE 2026 Closes, and We Meet Our South American Customers on the Show Floor

A Qingdao-based ice machine manufacturer, we spent three days walking Halls B7 and B8 and sat down with more than twenty South American customers.

From 28 to 30 October, the 2026 China Fisheries & Seafood Expo was held at the Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center in Qingdao. For an ice machine manufacturer, this is the one show of the year that requires no travel: the customers and the factory are in the same city.

Latin America sent 105 exhibitors

The show counted 1,615 exhibitors in total, 105 of them from Latin America: Peru 24, Ecuador 23, Argentina 18, Chile 16, Venezuela 13, Brazil 10, Uruguay 1. Shrimp, squid, tuna, fishmeal — every step along that chain depends on ice.

Three days, two halls, one route

The Latin American pavilions cluster in Halls B7 and B8, so we planned a single walk-through with no backtracking: starting at the Peru pavilion (B7-0107), on through B7-0205, B7-0207, B7-0302 and B7-0307, then the Argentina pavilion (B7-0501), before moving into Hall B8 for the Ecuadorian and Chilean companies (B8-0311, B8-0403, B8-0816).

Where we could reach a customer in advance, we sent a WhatsApp message with the booth number and a time to meet. Where we could not, we simply walked up to the stand. Over three days we met more than twenty companies — long-standing accounts and first-time conversations alike.

The questions never change

The conversations were practical: will the ice output keep pace with the processing line in peak season; how much energy does a tonne of ice cost; will the machine hold up in salt-laden coastal air; how quickly do spare parts arrive, and who answers when something goes wrong. None of these can be settled with a brochure.

From the stand to the workshop is a short drive

The advantage of Qingdao is that the exhibition centre and the factory sit in the same city. We have invited the customers who attended to come and see the plant: steel cutting, welding, a full-machine test run, and the ice as it actually comes out. In this industry, a customer who walks the workshop floor is worth more than ten handshakes at a booth.

What happens next

· Sizing proposals based on each customer’s real conditions: species processed, daily throughput, water quality and power supply.

· Video walkthroughs and remote test runs for customers who could not travel this time.

· A spare parts list and an after-sales response commitment issued together with every proposal.

In closing

Three days on the floor, more than twenty customers. We would rather see this Qingdao edition as a return visit: our customers travelled a long way to our city, and now it is our turn to deliver — equipment, proposals, spare parts and response, without gaps.

(Sources: official exhibitor directory of the 2026 China Fisheries & Seafood Expo; show dates 28–30 October 2026, Hongdao International Convention and Exhibition Center, Qingdao.)

Haiyue Refrigeration Technology Co., Ltd designs and manufactures ice-making equipment, including flake ice machines, tube ice machines, block ice machines and matching refrigeration systems, serving seafood processing, cold-chain logistics, food processing and retail. Our equipment is exported to South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.