U.S. consumers have plenty of money to spend on seafood, despite anecdotal concerns over inflation and higher grocery bills, according to Wells Fargo agricultural economist Michael Swanson.
“People are spending USD 500 billion [EUR 480 billion] on [beef, pork, and chicken]. You don’t think they have another couple hundred billion dollars to spend on seafood if they want to? They absolutely do,” Swanson said at the 2025 Global Seafood Market Conference, which took place 20 to 23 January in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A.
Swanson said that although he was sympathetic to consumers’ complaints that inflation is impacting their ability to buy groceries, the data simply doesn’t back it up. The percentage of their income U.S. consumers are allocating to food is the lowest it’s ever been, he added.
Although individual consumers may be hurting, the market as a whole is not, he explained.
“I’m as guilty as anybody. When I walk through Costco and I see that final tab, I go, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s huge, right?’ It doesn’t feel good,” Swanson said.
However, the numbers in aggregate show that consumers have the jobs and the income needed to pay higher bills at the register.
“They have the money; they have the jobs, and they will spend it if they find value. The consumer doesn’t like inflation, but it sure doesn’t stop them from spending their money,” Swanson said.
Swanson also pointed to data showing that U.S. consumers are spending more money on food away from home than on groceries to eat at home as further evidence that shoppers aren’t as constrained as they may feel.
“If they’re really hurting, we would not have seen that food away from home spending line moved to where it is above the food retailing number,” Swanson said.
