In December, the three-store Dorothy Lane Market in Dayton, Ohio, expanded the fresh seafood case and grill at the gourmet retailer’s Centerville, Ohio, store. DLM executives put in a new seafood case with around 20 percent more variety, and added a Jack’s Grill station between the meat and seafood departments. The Grill, already in place at DLM’s two other stores, offers grilling of shoppers’ meat and seafood purchases and a lunch menu with specials such as grilled tilapia sandwiches.
Notably, DLM’s fresh seafood expansion is taking place during a shaky global economic climate. Although shoppers are feeling the economic pinch, executives with DLM and other retailers tell SeaFood Business that they are adding variety to their seafood departments and increasing their marketing efforts in 2012. The top retail seafood trends show that consumers are buying seafood but are often choosing less expensive species, purchasing smaller portions and seeking out value-added items.
“People are continuing to buy fresh seafood, but are watching their portion sizes. For example, swordfish and tuna do very well; we are just selling smaller portions,” says Jack Gridley, DLM’s meat and seafood director.
Other retailers are increasing the variety of seafood they carry despite increased wholesale seafood prices over the past year. Between 2008 and 2011, the number of unique items in supermarket seafood departments increased 3.8 percent to 137 unique items per store. Meanwhile, the number of value-added seafood products increased more than 10 percent in supermarkets in 2011, according to the Chicago-based Perishables Group. Sales of many value-added items are rising across the fresh departments, despite their higher price points, compared to traditional offerings, according to a statement from the Perishables Group.
Click here to read the full story from the January issue of SeaFood Business magazine >
