Shopping habits show scope for growth

RESEARCH into shopping habits has revealed that seafood sales could increase by more than £38 million.

The research, by Kantar Worldwide, found that the seafood segments with the largest potential are chilled natural (£7.2 million), frozen natural (£5.4 million) and smoked (£4.7 million), with businesses encouraged to provide more recipe and meal inspiration to shoppers to encourage purchase.

Prawns were identified as a key species, in both chilled and frozen formats, where the seafood industry could make big gains.

Other important findings in the research, published last month, included the fact that consumers are putting increasing importance on quality, with 21 per cent ranking it as important, up from 16 per cent in 2013, and that is expected to increase further this year.

The frozen category was identified as an area where businesses could improve education about the perceived quality of frozen seafood as well as pitching it to families as ‘freezer essentials’.

The research was commissioned by Seafish, the industry authority on seafood, to drive a greater understanding of the seafood shopper and consumer behaviour.

Mel Groundsell, corporate relations director at Seafish, said: ‘The ultimate goal is to increase seafood consumption across the board by making it easier for industry to understand how we can collectively drive purchase and consumption.’