Sales within most seafood categories rose at U.K. retail last year, and U.K. grocery sales are up to start 2025, according to new data.
Total seafood sales increased 3.2 percent for the year ending 5 October 2024 to GBP 4.6 billion (USD 5.8 billion, EUR 5.5 billion), according to data in U.K. public body Seafish’s 2024 Ambient Seafood in Multiple Retail report.
Fresh/chilled sales realized the highest value growth of any category – 5.1 percent – during the period, but ambient sales were not far behind at 4.6 percent year-over-year growth. Frozen seafood sales, on the other hand, declined 2.3 percent.
More specifically, the prepared ambient seafood segment realized solid growth, with sales by value rising 5 percent to GBP 578 million (USD 723 million, EUR 694 million).
Tuna remained the top-selling ambient seafood species by both volume and value, reaching GBP 1.1 billion (USD 1.4 billion, EUR 1.3 billion) in sales for the year and accounting for 45 percent of ambient sales.
The report also looked at seafood sales over the past eight years, finding that cod, octopus, sardines, and mackerel showed the highest volume growth of between 22 percent to 80 percent, while ambient pollock realized the highest sales by value growth, spiking 6,592 percent in the period.
“Being a relatively new product to U.K. retail, minimal quantities were purchased in 2018,” Seafish said.
In other positive news for the nation’s retailers, take-home sales across U.K. grocery chains rose …
