Frozen seafood importer and distributor for Europe

Application and ordering

Epic buys frozen seafood from a global network of fishermen and farmers and imports and distributes it into Europe; it does not operate its own fishing fleet or farms. That importer-distributor role is what a private label, OEM or bulk buyer is sourcing when they contact Epic: a single, established supply line across shrimp, fish, cephalopods, shellfish and crustaceans, frog legs, surimi and finger foods, rather than a separate specialist per category. The business has run this way since 1970, when Pierre Hottlet turned an Antwerp trading company into a European importer and distributor of frozen seafood, and it has operated from its own distribution center in Kontich since 1991, expanded twice since to a continuous 4,500-pallet frozen storage capacity. For an OEM or private label buyer, that storage depth matters directly: it keeps the full assortment available year-round, independent of any single catch or harvest season, which is what allows Epic to promise bulk and on-demand delivery lined up with a customer's own production schedule rather than a seasonal supply window. Epic already serves food processing companies on exactly that basis, supplying frozen seafood in bulk and on demand as a raw or semi-processed input that customers transform into their own frozen or fresh convenience foods, pizzas, lasagnes, fish dishes, stews, ready meals and soups among them, under the customer's own brand rather than Epic's. Epic itself trades under two brand names, Epic and Epic Select, which reflects the same branded-sourcing logic a private label buyer is asking for: product moving to market under a label chosen by the party that sells it on. Retailers and importers building or extending a private label frozen seafood range, and food manufacturers sourcing an ingredient for an OEM product line, work with Epic the same way any wholesale or foodservice buyer does: place volume through the webshop once a login is issued, or open the relationship with a direct quote request describing the product, volume and delivery destination. Every reference in the assortment carries the same organization-wide certification set, IFS Logistics for storage and distribution, IFS Broker for the trading activity itself, MSC for wild catch from sustainably managed fisheries, ASC for responsible aquaculture on the SKUs it applies to, and AEO for cross-border customs security, audited annually, which private label and OEM buyers can cite on their own packaging or tender documentation where the underlying product qualifies. Delivery runs from the Kontich distribution center into Belgium and across the rest of Europe, matching how the assortment is already sold to wholesalers, retailers and foodservice distributors in multiple European markets.

Frequently asked questions