Grimsby Telegraph

The nation needs to Love Seafood, says Seafish!

NEW LONG TERM CONSUMPTIO­N DRIVE LAUNCHED

- By DAVID LAISTER david.laister@reachplc.com @davelaiste­r

LOVE Seafood!

That’s the message from Grimsbyhea­d quartered Sea fish to the nation, as it launches its new consumer brand platform.

Driven by a 20-year initiative to reverse the decline in seafood consumptio­n, the public body that supports the UK industry, aims to influence and inspire consumers to add more fish and shellfish into their diets. Love Seafood is being launched with a new identity, website and social media presence. It replaces Fish is the Dish, the previous Seafish consumer brand.

The wide-ranging launch campaign features consumer-facing advertisin­g across radio, TV, print, outdoor and streaming platforms. It will also feature CJ Jackson, a chef, cooking writer and seafood expert, with industry champions to follow.

There has already been a strong buy in from Grimsby - the UK processing capital and gateway to the retailers. Greg Smith, head of marketing at Seafish, which is based at Europarc’s Humber Seafood Institute, said: “We’re incredibly excited to launch our new Love Seafood brand and see our extensive planning come to fruition. Our previous Fish is the Dish brand was successful and popular but as attitudes towards food and consumer behaviour change, it was time for us to take stock. We’ve relished the opportunit­y to reevaluate where seafood is positioned in the minds of consumers, and in securing its long-term future relationsh­ip with the nation.

“Our planning period has given us time to position Love Seafood as a single, powerful message built and owned by the seafood industry. Through creation of our Love Seafood Group, with members representi­ng businesses across the seafood supply chain, we have embedded industry expertise and insight into the fabric of the brand to benefit both businesses and consumers.

“We’re realistic about what we want to achieve and the timescales required for this. We know we won’t change national attitudes overnight, which is why Love Seafood is a long-term initiative.

“We’re aiming to inspire a generation­al shift in attitude towards seafood and tell the story of this incredible industry.”

Love Seafood Social, a week-long programme of online events involving celebritie­s, chefs, social media influencer­s and seafood businesses across the country, will follow from October 12.

Mr Smith said the organisati­on has invested heavily in the groundwork to create Love Seafood. Informed by an in-depth state-of-the-nation research project with YouGov in 2018, the team gained insight into the barriers people face in relation to seafood consumptio­n across the UK.

It then analysed the data against informatio­n and trends identified by its in-house market insight team and through Experian consumer data. The findings showed that opportunit­ies for growth in the sector fell between two unique but broad consumer audiences, and that they would best be engaged through an entirely new consumer-focused initiative.

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