US supermarkets seeing record seafood sales

As Americans rush to stock their pantries due to shelter-in-place orders in numerous states and cities, U.S. grocers are realizing record seafood sales.

Grocery retailers and delivery companies are also on a major hiring spree, as demand for food and non-food items such as toilet paper outpace supply. Total U.S. sales of consumer packaged goods soared 44 percent for the week ending 14 March, compared to the same week last year, according to new Nielsen data.

Amazon said it is hiring around 100,000 new employees nationwide, while Instacart said it would be adding 300,000 new positions, and Walmart plans to add 150,00 positions, according to US News & World Report.

Frozen seafood sale surged 52.4 percent to nearly USD 1.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) for the week ending on 14 March, according to Nielsen data supplied to SeafoodSource, while shelf-stable (canned and pouched) seafood sales spiked 53.4 percent to nearly USD 6.8 billion (EUR 6.2 billion).

Even though some major grocery chains such as Kroger are closing their fresh seafood counters, fresh seafood sales also rose significantly. Fresh/ chilled seafood sales increased 13.7 percent to nearly USD 128 million (EUR 116 million) for the week ending on 14 March, Nielsen said.

The biggest gainers in the fresh seafood department included: sea bass, up 36.7 percent; flounder, up 35 percent; snapper, up 32.6 percent; salmon, up 30.2 percent; pollock, up 31.5 percent; halibut, up 23.1 percent, and herring, up 21.6 percent.

Canned and pouched tuna was the biggest gainer in the shelf-stable seafood category, sporting spiked sales of 150.5 percent to around USD 89 million (EUR 81 million) for the week ending on 14 March.

Shelf-stable anchovy and sardine sales also surged to 126.7 percent, mackerel sales rose 135.3 percent, and salmon sales increased 119.3 percent.

Pollock, salmon, tilapia, and mahi were among the biggest winners in the frozen seafood department for the week ending on 14 March.

Frozen catfish sales rose nearly 39.9 percent; clams rose 38.1 percent; cod and scrod sales were up 33.6 percent; crawfish and crawfish sales spiked 61.2 percent; flounder surged 57 percent; haddock rose 39.4 percent; lobsters were up 32.4 percent; mahi was up 85.7 percent; pollock rose 89.4 percent; salmon rose 58.1 percent; tilapia was up 57.2 percent; and tuna sales rose 48 percent.

Photo courtesy of justinagphoto/Shutterstock

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