Fresh and frozen retail sales of seafood hit double-digit growth in the United States in January 2021.
Overall U.S. retail sales rose 5.3 percent in January, seasonally adjusted from December, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Grocery and beverage store sales rose 2.4 percent, seasonally adjusted from December, but grew 11.6 percent in unadjusted year-over-year sales.
Fresh seafood sales jumped nearly 39 percent to reach USD 588 million (EUR 487 million), according to new IRI data, while frozen seafood sales rose 38.6 percent to around USD 602 million (EUR 498 million).
The biggest gainer in the fresh department was shellfish, which spiked 59.4 percent to nearly USD 274 million (EUR 227 million).
Shelf-stable seafood grew at slower rate of 9.1 percent to USD 206 million in January.
“This is a very strong start for seafood in the new year. With these numbers, I believe seafood could be one of the few exceptions to see growth in 2021 over 2020,” 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink told SeafoodSource.
While most other food categories will start to experience negative comps (compared to 2020) starting in mid-March, seafood’s “continued very strong performance may result in flat or even increased sales,” compared to last year, according to Roerink.
Fresh and frozen seafood’s consistent double digit monthly growth shows is a positive sign for strong sales throughout 2021.
“That shows it’s not just a spike because of meat shortages or a spike because of the holidays or a spike based on a promotion. This is sustained high demand,” Roerink said. “As we enter Lent, I imagine these numbers are going to hold if not strengthen.”
For decades, people didn’t have the confidence to prepare seafood at home and the pandemic prompted experimentation, Roerink said. But that changed in the spring of 2020, as Americans were locked down in their homes and had time to experiment in the kitchen.
“Now all the strengths of seafood are colliding into sustained high and everyday demand for protein variety, for its health halo and perhaps even for people realizing how easy it really is to prepare seafood,” Roerink said.
Shelf-stable seafood sales did not grow as quickly as fresh and frozen, Roerink noted, because the products have traditionally played more of a “back-up item” role in most households.
"That idea of needing back-up was very strong in the early weeks and month of the pandemic. The vast majority of consumers aimed to have two to three weeks’ worth of food in their freezers, fridges, and pantry and that favored items with long shelf-life and versatility like canned seafood,” Roerink said. “Now, the category sales are driven more by higher elevated demand and doesn’t see that same boost for the holidays that fresh or frozen do.”
Photo courtesy of Joni Hanebutt/Shutterstock
