Inflation on the prices of many seafood products at U.S. retail stores rose in May, but frozen and ambient seafood still experienced sales gains in the period.
After months of deflation, fresh seafood prices spiked 2.2 percent in May compared to the same month a year prior, led by an increase of 6.7 percent in fresh shellfish prices, according to new Circana data analyzed by Lakeland, Florida, U.S.A.-based 210 Analytics, which also found that frozen seafood inflation rose 2.2 percent in the period and ambient seafood prices dropped 2 percent.
This led to fresh seafood sales by value only rising 0.2 percent year over year, while sales by volume in the category fell 2 percent. Frozen seafood sales rose 3 percent by value, while sales by volume increased 0.8 percent. Shelf-stable seafood sales jumped 3.8 percent by value and 5.9 percent by volume.
“After several months of disruption to the very different timing of Easter, May provides a clean look at actual seafood demand in today’s tough marketplace,” 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink wrote in the U.S. Retail Seafood Performance Review report attached to the month’s data.
Sales by value grew for fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable seafood; however, the “truer measure of demand – sales [by volume] – showed growth for frozen and shelf-stable seafood, but a 2 percent decline for fresh,” she added...
