Title: Is China the future market for Icelandic seafood companies? Marketing planning for Blueice Group

This thesis is a final project in the Fisheries Training Programme of the United Nations University, prepared in collaboration with Blueice Group. The main goal of the thesis was to find out whether it is an attractive option for Blueice Group to enter the Chinese seafood market with products for end-consumers. The work was split into two phases. The first phase was dedicated to scientific analyses of the market. The second phase was based on the results from the analyses. The results are evaluated and suggestions made for the company. The following key questions were set at the beginning of the project: How can we find a target market in the complex Chinese seafood consumption market? What is the competitive advantage and main problem in the company‘s historical market activities? What does the situation look like according to SWOT and other factors which affect the results of the analyses? What is the effective core strategy for the company‘s marketing objectives, financial objectives and target markets? At what level should the sales forecast, expense forecast and margin regarding entering a new market be set? How should the new marketing plan be implemented, in order to successfully attain the target? The conclusions of the research indicate that it is possible and an attractive option for Blueice to enter the Chinese seafood market. The author suggests it should be done in two stages, each of them carefully planned and more deeply evaluated, before a definitive decision of market entry is taken, because some of the information used in this project is constantly changing.