Fresh and frozen seafood sales continue surging in the United States, as Americans continue to eat more meals at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as a result of increasing demand for grocery purchases, supermarkets and grocery delivery services continue to expand.
Overall fresh seafood sales jumped 41.6 percent for the week of 12 July, according to Information Resources Inc., while frozen seafood sales climbed 41.9 percent.
“Weekly sales gains over the same week year ago have been highly elevated for both fresh and frozen seafood,” 210 Analytics President Anne-Marie Roerink wrote in a recent report.
However, frozen seafood gains have outpaced those in fresh during much of the pandemic. Year-to-date frozen seafood sales are up 35.4 percent, with double-digit gains for 15 weeks running, Roerink added.
Overall frozen food sales continue to grow faster than total store sales, according to Roerink, and she predicted the trend will continue.
“While foodservice had started to gear back up, the rise in COVID cases prompted many states to roll back the previous relaxation of social distancing measures,” she said. “As such, it is likely that at-home food preparation will take on a bigger role once more in the coming weeks.”
As a result of increasing grocery demand, supermarket chains and grocery delivery services continue to expand.
Discount grocer ALDI plans to open more than 70 new stores by the end of the year, and it recently opened its 2,000th store in the U.S. In recent years, Aldi increased its fresh food selection by 40 percent – including seafood options such as packaged Atlantic salmon.
Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop recently announced it will add three new warehouses and at least 50 more pick-up locations by the end of this year. It has also expanded its availability on Instacart, making same-day delivery with Instacart available at a total of 321 Stop & Shop stores, the retailer said in a press release.
Food Lion is also expanding Instacart delivery to more than 300 stores, Supermarket News reported.
In addition, Pomona, California-based Asian special supermarket Seafood City has partnered with Local Express, an e-commerce platform for independent grocers, to provide its customers with the option to select curbside pickup or home delivery.
Meanwhile, Walmart and Yahoo Mail have partnered for an online grocery program that will allow customers to fill their Walmart shopping cart directly from their email, MarketWatch reported. The "Groceries from Walmart" service is available on the Yahoo Mail iOS app and website, and will be available on Android later this year.
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