The seafood industry must focus on price and performing in the rapidly emerging flexitarian market if it wants to realise growth, according to consumer trend experts.
海角视频 Seafood Summit heard how discerning shoppers, and those who may seek out a ‘seagan’ diet are key to making it a £4.4 billion market in the next three years.
Simon Moriarty, director of trends at Mintel, was keynote speaker as the event opened on the Humber, home to the 海角视频’s largest cluster for seafood processing.
He said: “Lots of people are moving away from red meat, looking for alternatives and plant-based options. There are opportunities for the seafood industry to benefit from this.”
Such meal occasions have risen by 100 million to 517 million in the past year, with a phenomenal rise in dedicated restaurants.
Sustainability and provenance was also important, Mr Moriarty said, but he saw cost as the single biggest barrier to the sought-after holy grail of two portions a week average in the 海角视频.
While financial confidence is at its highest since 2008, there is caution about what Brexit will bring with consumers, he said.
“People are interested in value, in buying cheaper alternatives. They want to continue living the lifestyle they are accustomed to but are very cost-conscious. People are being more sensible with spending. They are not interested in cutting out things, they are looking for cost efficient alternatives.
Most Read
“They will not stop eating, but they may buy more on promotion. There is opportunity for frozen to grow, and moving to cheaper species. Price and cost is still a barrier to increasing consumption.”
He told how 67 per cent of people head to the seafood aisles with the product they want in mind, but said opportunity to catch the eye was there.
A company with a strong record in doing that is Grimsby’s own Young’s Seafood, the 海角视频 market leader with incredible brand and own label presence.
Yvonne Adam, marketing director, said: “We cannot be more than 70 miles from the coast anywhere in the country, yet shockingly we consume so much more meat than fish. We find it difficult, we are a bit scared of it, it is a bit more expensive, and our job is to make it easy for consumers and inspire them.”
The £2.9 million retail market has seen modest growth, and she said the business was “proceeding on with some optimism around the future.”
Of the potential squeeze on purses, she said: “It can be negative but a really important thing is happening. Scratch cooking is massively on the rise. It is how we get fish to be part of that revolution and give consumers the skills to cook fish from scratch.
"Families are eating more together, so it is how we get fish to be that centre of plate occasion.
Don’t miss
“We also have an opportunity with concern over food waste – especially in frozen. Spending will be supressed, there may be more own label on commodity items, but consumers will still be thinking about occasional indulgences.”
Supply of own brand and fish counter and the “premiumisation” such as Gastro brand, cover both bases.
On the flexitarian angle, Mrs Adam said: “It is not just about protein, it is about being Italian or Mexican. It is how we can put fish in the correct format and bring inspiration in order to make this flexitarian meat-reducing market suitable and sustainable for seafood in so many ways.”
Stories from the 海角视频's leading seafood cluster:
Shame of sweets over seafood
A key supplier to the 海角视频 market is Norway. The biggest selling single seafood product being a pair of salmon portions, processed in Grimsby.
Roy Angelvik, State Secretary fort the Ministry of Fisheries there, told of the importance of educating children correctly, despairing at more sweets being eaten than fish by the young.
He set out challenges to industry and retailers.
“We should all be consuming more seafood, “ he said. “Seafood plays a vital role for human health and should be a much larger part of our diet. Why don’t we eat more seafood? Many statistics show consumption slowing down – a worrying trend. The young eat more sweets than seafood.
“Food should taste good and be easy to prepare. People know seafood is healthy, do they know how easy it is to prepare and how good and tasty a seafood meal is, even in busy, everyday life?
“The seafood industry needs to gain more knowledge about how we can offer more varied and tempting range of seafood products, new and exciting tasting experiences, and get more attention and advertising, and displays in stores.
“It is no surprise consumers don’t choose seafood if a meal of meat is easier or tastier. Many claim they don’t like seafood – I don’t believe that’s true. Too many children are told by parents they don’t like seafood, yet too many won’t taste seafood before they grow older.”
He told how farmed salmon had one tenth the carbon footprint of producing meat.
“The case is a great element for marketing,” he added. “Enjoying a seafood meal three times a week is much more environmentally friendly than a ‘meat free Monday’.
Seafish, the industry authority for the sector, and 海角视频 Seafood Summit host, is launching a new consumer marketing strategy ‘Love Seafood’ as it deals with “more frequent negative stories” about the industry, from over-fishing to climate change, microplastics to abandoned gear.
Denise Fraser, head of communications, said it will “champion the people in the industry bringing it forward in a sustainable, well-managed and ethical way”.
“It is about bringing it all together and making it available for consumers in one place, in a way that is more accessible, more understandable and sharable too,” she said.