While a large amount of consumer spending around the holidays revolves around dining out, the fourth quarter of 2009 realized retail seafood sales growth as pricing declined in the United States.
The seafood department is made up of fresh, prepared and other seafood, with fresh seafood accounting for 80 percent of department dollar sales in the United States in the fourth quarter of last year. Prepared seafood had a 16.1 percent dollar share, and the remaining 3.7 percent was sauces and seasonings, seafood side items, dips and spreads.
Nationally, weekly fresh seafood sales averaged $4,678 per store in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 5.5 percent from the prior year, as increased sales were driven by price reductions. All U.S. regions increased in fresh seafood weekly dollar sales per store since 2008.
Fresh seafood sales in the fourth-quarter holiday season peaked the week of Christmas at $7,732 per store, an increase of 0.7 percent from the prior year, as consumers celebrated the New Year holiday with shrimp, crabs, salmon and lobsters. Sales were also high the week prior to Christmas at $5,137 and the week of Thanksgiving at $4,775.
To read the rest of the report, which appeared in the October issue of SeaFood Business magazine, click here.
