Seafood News Foodservice & Retail

Waitrose’s squid sales skyrocket

World Headlines Big quota brings big challenges EU threatens Faroe Islands with...  Farmed or wild, salmon prices to... US catfish program repeal makes... SeafoodSourceTV: Behind China... Iceland, MCS trade blows over... Ocean Beauty helps open king... Iglo Austria hits 100%... China's 1Q seafood exports up Copeinca takes huge 1Q loss Hope in horsegate? First Atlantic halibut fishery MSC... BAP standards benchmarked against... First Americas airline to carry... EU, Norway mackerel upgraded on... Alaska salmon season opens

By SeafoodSource staff
19 June, 2012 - Squid sales at Waitrose supermarkets are through the roof thanks to the rising popularity of Mediterranean-inspired diets.

On Monday, the retailer, which operates more than 270 stores across the United Kingdom, revealed that sales of whole squid are up an astounding 228 percent and sales of squid tubes are up an impressive 75 percent. 

Waitrose attributed the growth to the booming popularity of Mediterranean-inspired diets like “No Carbs Before Marbs” and The Dukan Diet that promote, among other foods, moderate to high consumption of seafood. Squid is a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine.

“Brits are going mad for squid this year,” said Jeremy Ryland Langley, specialist buyer for fish and shellfish at Waitrose. “It’s one of our fastest-growing seafood lines at Waitrose, and we expect to see it continue to rise. Traditionally very conservative when eating fish, we are becoming much more adventurous than we used to be and feel more confident in cooking with squid.”

Waitrose currently offers two different types of squid at the fish counter — squid tubes prices at GBP 8.99 for 1 kilogram and whole squids tagged at GBP 8.99 for 1 kilogram. 

In Tuesday’s edition, London’s Daily Mail ran a blurb about the growing popularity of squid amongst British conusmers. The newspaper reported that Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, is also witnessing a sharp increase in sales of frozen squid so far this year, up 10 percent from 2011.

| Printer Friendly Version | Back to home »