Comment
BY DR MARTIN JAFFA
Counter intelligence
The demand for seafood is changing, but too many in the industry are still failing to recognise that
F
EbruAry has turned out to be an interesting month in terms of the retail market. Sales of chilled salmon have increased by 7.8% year on year in terms of volume. The value of the sales has also increased. yet, at the same time, Tesco has announced the closure of more of its meat and fish and hot food counters as shoppers appear to have lost interest. The store group already closed nearly 100 fish counters in 2019 and had planned to close more at the time, but was persuaded to keep many open. It is now to close 317 more counters leaving 279 stores where there is sufficient local demand to keep the counters open. However, Tesco doesn’t say whether all these remaining stores will have a fish counter. They may be retained for hot food only. I already find it difficult to find stores with a fish counter so I imagine, if any are left open, they will be few and far between. Although it might seem strange that salmon sales have increased at a time when Tesco has identified a lack of interest in its fish counters, the two are not actually connected. What these changes confirm is that the market for fish in the uK is still undergoing major transformation, but other than the salmon industry, the wider fish and seafood sectors have buried their heads in the sand. Asda and Sainsbury’s have already closed their counters leaving just Morrisons and Waitrose fulfilling any demand. I wouldn’t be surprised if Morrisons considered the economic justification for closing their counters too, but are reluctant to do so. Waitrose is trying to make its
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counters a unique selling point. Regardless, most shoppers are no longer interested in buying fish from traditional fish counters. In common with other proteins, shoppers want easy-to-use portions sold through prepack and, in terms of fish, salmon provides the ideal product. This is because it offers the retail sector consistent supply, usually consistent price and consistent quality. These cannot be matched from the wild catch sector. Over many years, I have always argued that the future of farmed salmon is in the development of added-value products and this past perception is now today’s reality. As well as changing the way they buy fish, shoppers are also changing their shopping habits. The days of one large weekly shop in a hypermarket are numbered. Shoppers are buying smaller amounts in more visits to local small supermarkets. The limitation on space means that choice is restricted and this is especially true in terms of fish. At most, stores seem to offer, salmon, sea bass and a white fish only, as well as the ever-popular prawns. This leaves many other species, including those that might have once been considered popular, with very little consumer demand. For example, whilst salmon volumes have increased by nearly 8%, sales of plaice have fallen by nearly 22%. Even haddock sales have fallen by 5%. The prospect of reversing these trends seems very dim. The problem is that the fishing sector has remained relatively blinkered about market development. Every so often, consumers are encouraged to try something different to the big five – salmon, cod, haddock, tuna and prawns – but such advice largely falls on deaf ears. Consum-
Opposite: Tesco fish
counter
Left: Anyone for
“Cornish sardines”?
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
07/03/2022 15:13:26
