Christine Blank

More UK restaurant guests are seeking out ethnic foods that are heavily seafood-focused, such as Thai cuisine.

According to foodservice consulting firm Technomic’s “100 U.K. Chain Restaurant Report,” the fastest-growing chains in the country are all ethnic concepts. While UK consumers visit restaurants serving Italian, Indian and South African cuisine, Asian cuisine — particularly Thai food — is building momentum.

“Consumers seem to be

Seafood retailers have become experts at adapting their business to the changing economy. Over the past three years, they have slashed costs, increased the value of what they are offering and focused on purchasing fresh, quality seafood.

These traits should help supermarket seafood departments and fish markets compete as commodity and fuel prices rise again this fall. The U.S. drought this year significantly impacted crops such as corn and

U.S. supermarket seafood sales and volume rose this summer, according to new data from fresh food consulting firm Perishables Group. 

Sales of all fresh seafood items rose 7.8 percent while volume jumped 8.9 percent for the 13 weeks ending 28 August, compared to the same three months last year.

The average retail price of all seafood items fell 1 percent to USD 6.06 per pound, which may have helped spur the sales increase, according to Steve

Cincinnati-based Kroger plans to add a few seafood products to its new Simple Truth private-label lines. The 2,425-store chain launched the Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic lines in late September. The lines are free from more than 100 artificial preservatives and ingredients that some shoppers have said they do not want in their foods, according to consumer research done by Kroger.

The Simple Truth brand includes meat, chicken and eggs,

Online grocery sales continue to grow, benefitting fresh and frozen seafood products, according to a new report.

Research firm IBISWorld projects that online grocers’ revenue will increase by 8.3 percent in 2012 to reach USD 6 billion. Fresh seafood sales will generate an estimated USD 154.5 million in revenue for the online grocery industry in 2012, while frozen seafood sales will account for around USD 90 million in this year, according to

Bon Appetit’s Eat Local (Fish) Challenge, a one-day event held at all 500 of its U.S. locations last week, was designed to educate guests about eating seafood.

“Americans don’t eat a lot of fish: It is less than 10 percent of our total protein intake annually. What I really tried to share with our chefs is what a special opportunity they have in getting their guests interested in eating more fish,” said Helene York, director of purchasing

The typical consumer heading out to the store for their weekly grocery-shopping trip may not think of the local dollar store for seafood, but that is changing rapidly. Over the past three years or so, most dollar-store chains have added refrigerated and frozen sections to their stores, featuring a variety of packaged seafood items.

Take the 10,000-store Dollar General chain based in Goodlettsville, Tenn. A recent visit to one of its larger stores

To celebrate National Seafood Month in October, Joe’s Crab Shack surveyed its guests about their seafood preferences.  In addition, SeaPak Shrimp & Seafood Co. is running a month-long “Shrimptacular” campaign.

More than 75 percent of Joe's Crab Shack guests eat seafood at least once a month, according to the chain's survey of more than 600,000 Facebook fans and email subscribers. An additional 41.9 percent eat seafood out at least once

Nashville, Tenn.-based Captain D’s, which owns and franchises 527 restaurants in the U.S., recently reported a record third quarter sales increase of 10.8 percent (a 12.5 percent increase in company-owned restaruatns and a 9 percent increase in its franchised restaurants). This is the third quarter in a row of sales increases, after declining sales in previous years.

In addition to upgrading its core menu items, Captain D’s has launched a

Mike Kern, CEO of Long John Silver’s, is calling for a national U.S. seafood marketing organization that would promote the benefits of eating seafood. In an exclusive interview with SeafoodSource, Kern talked about the need for a national marketing organization.

“We have this wonderful protein across many species that I don’t think gets enough recognition as such. We have to sing its praises and find ways to establish its relevancy in the