From Norway’s Coast to Thailand’s Table: The Stories Behind the Seafood We Eat

A new journey through Norway reveals the people, places and traditions behind the seafood on our plates

For many food lovers in Thailand, Norwegian seafood needs little introduction. Salmon appears everywhere from Japanese restaurants and hotel brunches to supermarkets and home kitchens, while Norwegian mackerel, commonly known as saba, has become another familiar favorite.

But what happens before that seafood reaches the plate?

A new campaign from Seafood from Norway is turning the journey around, taking Thai audiences back to Norway to meet the coastal communities, fishermen, aquaculture experts, chefs and families behind the food. And for travelers intrigued enough to see it firsthand, there is even a chance to make the journey themselves.

Thai-Norwegian actress Yaya-Urassaya Sperbund

Following Seafood Back to Its Source

Called “The Story from the Sea,” the cinematic series follows Thai-Norwegian actress Yaya-Urassaya Sperbund as she travels through Norway's coastal communities.

Rather than concentrating solely on what ends up on the dinner table, the journey explores the relationship between seafood, landscape and everyday life.

Yaya meets fishermen, aquaculture experts, chefs, families and local residents whose livelihoods and traditions have been shaped by the sea. Traditional fishing communities sit alongside modern aquaculture and seafood innovation, showing how an industry can be both deeply rooted in the past and continually evolving.

For food-minded travelers, it touches on one of the most rewarding ways to understand a destination: start with what people eat and follow the ingredients home.

Why Seafood Tells You So Much About Norway

Norway's relationship with seafood is not simply commercial. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council, the sea forms part of the country's culture, communities and way of life.

That connection becomes the central theme of the campaign.

Yaya, who has both Thai and Norwegian heritage, describes the journey as a personal one, particularly her encounters with communities whose lives revolve around the sea. What stood out to her, she says, was the close relationship between “food, family, and nature.”

It is an idea travelers increasingly encounter around the world. Food becomes more interesting when you understand the landscape that produced it, the people who work with it and the traditions that determine how it is prepared and eaten. In Norway, seafood provides that window.

Åshild Nakken, Southeast Asia Regional Director of the Norwegian Seafood Council

More Than Food: Seafood as a Way of Life

For Norwegians, seafood is closely intertwined with culture, community and everyday life. Generations of coastal communities have built their livelihoods around the sea, creating traditions and values that continue alongside today's modern fishing and aquaculture industries.

Åshild Nakken, Southeast Asia Regional Director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, says “The Story from the Sea” is intended to introduce Thai consumers to the people behind Norwegian seafood and the traditions that have shaped these communities over generations.

The connection also extends beyond the screen. Through the “From Sea to Sky: Salmon Passport” promotion, the campaign hopes to encourage Thai consumers to experience Norway and its seafood culture firsthand, turning an ingredient already familiar on Thai dining tables into inspiration for a future journey.

Norwegian Seafood Has Become a Thai Favorite

The campaign arrives at a time when Thailand's appetite for Norwegian seafood continues to grow.

Thailand is described by the Norwegian Seafood Council as Norway's second most important seafood market in Southeast Asia. From January through July 2026, Norwegian seafood exports to Thailand increased 7% in value to approximately THB 7 billion, while the volume of fresh Norwegian salmon and Fjord Trout rose 15% to 20,488 tons.

The numbers help explain why Norwegian salmon has become such an everyday presence in Thailand.

But the country's seafood offering goes beyond salmon. Seafood from Norway also highlights Fjord Trout and Norwegian mackerel, or saba, as key products in the Thai market.

For diners, knowing where those ingredients come from adds another dimension to something that might otherwise feel completely familiar.

A Food Journey Worth Traveling For

“The Story from the Sea” also taps into a wider reason many of us travel: to understand food at its source.

Eating Norwegian seafood in Bangkok is one experience. Seeing the coastal landscapes where seafood production takes place, meeting communities connected to the industry and understanding how the sea influences local life is another.

That makes the campaign as much a piece of travel inspiration as a food story. For Thai-Norwegian Yaya, Norway's coastal communities also offer a natural bridge between two cultures. Her journey takes a product Thai diners already know and places it back within its original landscape, revealing the human stories behind an increasingly global food supply.

The series began rolling out on 1 September 2026 across Seafood from Norway Thailand's YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels.

From Sea to Sky: Your Seafood Dinner Could Take You to Norway

There is also a way for consumers in Thailand to turn that curiosity into an actual trip.

Alongside “The Story from the Sea,” Seafood from Norway is running its “From Sea to Sky: Salmon Passport” in-store promotion, which gives consumers the chance to win trips to Norway.

For food travelers, the prize neatly completes the circle: encounter Norwegian seafood in Thailand, learn about the people and places behind it, and potentially travel to Norway to experience that seafood culture firsthand.

Details and conditions for the Salmon Passport promotion are available through Seafood from Norway Thailand's official channels.

When Dinner Becomes a Destination

Food has always been one of the easiest ways into a culture.

A bowl of noodles can lead you through an old Bangkok neighborhood. Wine can take you into the vineyards of France or Italy. Coffee can become a reason to visit a farm in northern Thailand.

Seafood can do the same for Norway. “The Story from the Sea” is ultimately less about convincing diners that Norwegian seafood exists and more about showing what exists behind something they already eat.

There are fishing communities and family traditions. There are chefs and aquaculture specialists. There are generations whose livelihoods have been tied to cold northern waters, alongside newer technology and modern seafood production.

For travelers who increasingly want to know where their food comes from, those stories can transform a familiar ingredient into the beginning of another journey.

[PHOTO: Courtesy of Norwegian Food Council]