Instead of solely relying on their primary grocery store, U.S. consumers are shopping around for their seafood, according to FMI – The Food Industry Association.
That’s a major change from 2018, when FMI research showed that 60 percent of consumers said their traditional grocery store was their primary seafood store. That number dropped drastically following the Covid-19 pandemic, with just 42 percent of respondents still using their traditional grocery store as their main location to buy seafood. FMI’s latest Power of Seafood report shows that change has staying power, with that number dropping to 37 percent.
Still, 62 percent of respondents say the main place they purchase groceries is the main place they purchase seafood.
“But, 38 percent say that the store they’re spending their most dollars is not where they’re buying their seafood necessarily, so they’re looking elsewhere for their seafood,” FMI Vice President of Research and Insights Steve Markenson said at the 2025 Global Seafood Market Conference in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A., on 21 January. “Where are they looking? They’re looking lots of different places.”
Supercenters and club stores have benefited from consumers changing shopping habits.
According to FMI’s report, 28 percent of consumers primarily buy seafood from a supercenter or discount store, while 12 percent primarily buy seafood from club stores – more than double the 5 percent who responded that way in 2018.
Consumers will also seek out seafood at locations beyond their primary seafood store; only about one-third of respondents said they purchase all of their seafood from a single store.
According to FMI, 25 percent of consumers will also shop at their primary supermarket, 24 percent will shop at seafood stores, 23 percent will shop at another supermarket, 20 percent will shop at a supercenter, 18 percent will shop at a club store, 16 percent will shop at a seafood market/monger/stand, and 14 percent will shop at a farmers market.
“[Consumers] are shopping lots of different places, and we know from our research the average shopper shopped about six different banners in a 30-day period,” Markenson noted. “So, folks are shopping around, and seafood is definitely something that they’re shopping around a lot for.”
