SOLUTIONS
Seafood
Selling Seafood RE TAILERS, MANUFACTURERS AND ORGANIZ ATIONS OFFER STR ATEGIES FOR KEEPING CUSTOMERS HOOKED. By Bridget Goldschmidt s bad as the pandemic was at its height, it had an unequivocally positive effect on seafood sales. “In the first year of the pandemic, seafood sales saw some of the most dramatic increases among all areas of food retail across fresh, frozen and grocery and across all species,” notes the introduction to the 2022 “Power of Seafood” report from Arlington, Va.-based FMI — The Food Industry Association. “Sales of seafood benefited from a number of factors, including restaurants closing, consumers seeking healthier and nutritious foods, the desire for variety, the trend to cooking at home coupled with cooking fatigue, supply chain issues and higher prices for other proteins.” That growth was maintained in 2021, with seafood sales edging up an additional 0.9%.
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progressivegrocer.com
Key Takeaways With pandemic restrictions largely over, retailers and other stakeholders must continue to sustain and build on the growth across all seafood segments that occurred during that time. Retailers are focusing on making home preparation of seafood fun, easy and affordable, with resources such as recipes, promotions, free nutritional health coaching and in-store cooking demos. Suppliers are offering preparation tips and varied and convenient products, including plant-based options, while aquaculture certification organizations seek to raise awareness of sustainable farm-raised product.
During the pandemic, fresh, frozen and shelf-stable seafood sales soared as homebound consumers ventured into their kitchens to prepared home-cooked meals.
