Despite a weak economic backdrop, the appeal of fresh fish in France appears to be holding up.
According to the French agency FranceAgriMer, from January to November French households upped their purchases of cut and packaged fresh fish by 4 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
And bucking the overall downward trend in fresh shellfish sales are shelled scallops, which witnessed a colossal 66 percent jump in sales volume by French households, on a 7 percent drop in price.
“Household purchases on shellfish, crustaceans, squid and octopus have lightly regressed in the first 11 months of the year, except for shelled scallops,” said FranceAgriMer, citing figures from market tracker TNS that show 2 percent and 1 percent drops in crustacean and cephalopod purchases, respectively.
Meanwhile, salmon and cod have been resilient, with sales volumes for both rising in France. Higher prices for salmon at the end of 2009 are expected to last through 2010, said FranceAgriMer, depending on fluctuations in European salmon production, notably in Norway, which was “unable to compensate for the fall in Chilean [salmon] production in 2010.”
Underlining the enduring appeal of salmon, according to FranceAgriMer, imports of Norwegian fresh salmon fillets increased a considerable 48 percent in terms of volume but fell 5 percent in terms of price. And repeating this healthy double-digit growth, the volume of frozen salmon fillets from Norway to France rose 24 percent, matched by an 8 percent lift in price.
The French appetite for smoked fish, crabsticks and prawns also proved to be fairly robust, with sales volumes rising 5 percent, 2 percent and 12 percent, respectively. However, prices fell — 1 percent for crabsticks and 4 percent for prawns. Smoked fish, on the other hand, saw prices rise 2 percent.
Ready-prepared seafood lost some of its appeal, according to TNS figures, with household purchases for such products falling 4 percent between January and November. Meanwhile, frozen prepared seafood witnessed a 6 percent drop in sales volume, coupled with a 3 percent rise in price.
