The United Kingdom’s national Seafood Week will return later this year, with the previous event generating up to GBP 18 million (USD 26 million, EUR 23.3 million) in additional sales, Seafish has confirmed.
Seafood Week 2016 will run from 7 to 14 October.
Last year, the consumer campaign, which aims to boost the country’s consumption of seafood through an eight-day celebration of the industry, secured the participation of more than 80 brands and companies including Young’s Seafood, Whitby Seafoods, Yo Sushi! and Loch Fyne, alongside retailers such as Morrisons, The Co-operative and Aldi.
The cooperative reported a double-digit growth in seafood sales, while Seafish calculated that for 1 GBP (USD 1.44, EUR 1.29) spent on the campaign, the seafood industry received benefits of between GBP 25 (USD 36.10, EUR 32.35) and GBP 64 (USD 92.40, EUR 82.80) due to additional retail sales.
“We’re blown away by these results, they clearly show the benefit that Seafood Week has had across the industry,” said Mel Groundsell, corporate relations director at Seafish. “Seafood Week is about promoting and celebrating the seafood industry – and encouraging the public to eat more fish more often. There are plenty of opportunities for businesses to take part in this year’s campaign and I would like to encourage companies from right across the supply chain to get involved.”
This year’s proceedings will kick-off with the return of the “Fish Pun Day” on social media, and be followed by various competitions, special events and spotlight stories portraying different areas of the seafood industry.