Seafood sales to grow more than you think

A new Food Marketing Institute (FMI) report reveals that seafood sales could grow to approximately $12 billion.

According to FMI’s The Power of Seafood report, seafood consumers typically do not purchase all their seafood from one place. In fact, only 34 percent of seafood consumers purchase all their seafood from their primary store. Aside from their primary seafood store, seafood consumers shop for their seafood at a wide variety of other places, such as seafood markets, but not online. While some consumers buy seafood when it is on sale, they are more likely to buy based on quality. Product quality ranks highest among 10 factors that impact the seafood purchase decision.

At $886.3 million, the frozen fish/seafood segment is also thriving for private brands. Sales increased more than $38 percent and private brands now own about 40 percent of the market share in the category, an increase of more than 10 percent. Unit sales increased 34 percent. The thinking here is that more single millennials are purchasing more store brand frozen fish/seafood because: one, they want healthier products; and, two, they want portion control. Retailers such as Aldi and Costco Wholesale are catering to that crowd with an array of frozen fish/seafood offerings. Aldi offers products under its Sea Queen private brand and Costco under its Kirkland Signature own brand.

“The United States Department of Agriculture recommends eating seafood at least twice per week, but only 21 percent of adults eat seafood the recommended two times per week.  The consumption of seafood by consumers in the U.S. falls significantly behind poultry, meat and pork, with consumption around 16 pounds per year, compared to more than 100 pounds of other animal proteins,” said Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods at FMI. “In fact, 44 percent of adults are not even frequent or occasional seafood consumers, eating seafood less than once per month. The food retail industry has an opportunity to educate consumers on how to buy, cook and prepare seafood to help shoppers increase their consumption.”