U.S. grocery and restaurant chains are aiming to boost seafood sales by running promotions centered on National Seafood Month in October.
After running a successful promotion last year, Lakeland, Florida, U.S.A.-based grocery chain Publix is ramping up its “Fall in Love with Seafood” promotion this year in partnership with the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP). The promotion includes increased usage of seafood imagery in stores and on social media platforms, along with in-store seafood demonstrations and sampling.
Last year, the campaign that ran across Publix’s footprint of more than 1,300 stores netted a 5.5 percent boost in fresh and frozen seafood sales by value and a 5.7 percent bump by volume, compared to October and November of 2023.
This year, an internal Publix “Seafood Swap” promotion is encouraging shoppers to swap other proteins, such as beef or chicken, for seafood. The promotion will appear in Publix emails, in-store point-of-purchase materials, and on the chain’s website and social media platforms, according to SNP.
Additionally, a digital marketing and email program in partnership with Promopoint, the primary retail shopper marketing agency partnering with Publix and its suppliers, will aim to achieve a spike in customer impressions. SNP expects the total impressions for the campaign to jump 35 percent compared to last year, reaching an estimated 34 million impressions throughout October.
The campaign does not just run in October, however, and SNP has expanded its Fall in Love with Seafood promotion throughout 2025. This has included partnering with TV personality and James Beard award-winning Chef Andrew Zimmern, who has promoted the campaign across his over 3 million social media followers.
“When I talked to [SNP] in our first Zoom meeting, they said, ‘We want Americans to eat one more seafood meal a week,’” Zimmern said earlier this year at the 2025 Seafood Expo North America. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m in.’ That, to me, is a win. I know what that looks like. I think I know some ways that I can help move that needle, but most importantly, it’s a really easy metric to get behind.”
Elsewhere during National Seafood Month, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.-based Bamboo Sushi are partnering on a promotion showcasing the benefits of responsibly farmed seafood and ASC’s “sea green” label.
Bamboo Sushi, the first certified sustainable sushi restaurant in the U.S., introduced a new fish dish, ASC-certified Kanpachi Carpaccio, which includes amberjack, heirloom tomatoes, capers, herbs, aleppo pepper, and lemon vinaigrette. Bamboo Sushi sources its ASC-certified Hawaiian kanpachi from Blue Ocean Mariculture in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, which was the first finfish farm to become ASC-certified in the U.S.
The signature dish headlines “The Certified Seafood Experience,” an initiative which runs from 7 October through 6 November and invites diners to learn more about responsibly farmed seafood and the ASC-Bamboo Sushi partnership.
“Through in-store education, digital content, and storytelling, ASC and Bamboo Sushi will collaborate to help sushi lovers understand the value behind ASC’s program and how responsibly farmed seafood can support healthier oceans and food systems,” ASC said in a release.
“Our goal during National Seafood Month is to make waves in the minds and hearts of diners by expanding perspectives around farmed seafood,” ASC North America Marketing Manager Athena Davis added.
In addition to National Seafood Month, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is celebrating National Pescatarian Month with “engaging content that encourages consumers to make room on their plates for fish and seafood,” the organization said in a release.
The multi-platform campaign includes the award-winning Dish on Fish blog, an updated e-cookbook with over 110 pescatarian-friendly recipes, and digital, social and broadcast activations.
“National Pescatarian Month is intended to celebrate those who have embraced a pescatarian lifestyle and reminds everyone that fish and other seafood should be a regular part of a versatile, healthy, and delicious diet. Another goal of National Pescatarian Month is to help bolster efforts already underway by retailers, foodservice operators, and brands as part of the existing National Seafood Month, also in October,” NFI said.
The annual campaign is a “huge success for Dish on Fish, and we look forward to seeing its impressive impact each year,” NFI Vice President of External Affairs and Councils Brandon Phillips told SeafoodSource.
“Our goal is to encourage consumers to enjoy more seafood and ‘Go Pescatarian!,’ and we continue to be extremely pleased with its reach, feedback, and overall success,” he said.
