Most food buyers believe the seafood industry is the best-positioned protein provider to handle unexpected supply chain disruptions, according to a new survey.
Seventy-one percent of food executives and buyers said seafood was best-positioned to handle unexpected challenges and disruptions, according to a new survey by Thai Union-owned Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods (COSFF) of retail and foodservice executives, conducted by Wakefield Research.
Forty-four percent of buyers believe the beef industry is best-positioned to handle challenges, while 43 percent said the poultry industry is best, 38 percent said plant-based proteins, and 35 percent said pork.
Forty-nine percent of food executives and buyers said seafood sales have risen zero to 24 percent in the past year, while 39 percent said they have realized a 25 to 49 percent increase in seafood sales, and 10 percent have seen a 50 to 74 percent bump in seafood sales.
The survey results were part of El Segundo, California, U.S.A.-based COSFF’s new corporate campaign, Think Big, which highlights the brand’s “unique strategic offerings around the evolving demands of the seafood industry,” the supplier said in a press release.
The survey also found 73 percent of food executives and buyers have seen an increase in demand for sustainably caught and raised products in the past 12 months, with 30 percent reporting a significant increase.
Nearly all food executives and buyers (97 percent) say consumers are willing to try new and innovative seafood products, including 52 percent who say they are very willing.
However, only 44 percent of buyers said their seafood suppliers are “very prepared” to meet consumer demand for value-added or innovative products. Thirty-eight percent of suppliers are “somewhat prepared," 10 percent are “somewhat unprepared," and 8 percent are “very unprepared."
After several years of not being able to eat out due to limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 49 percent of food executives and buyers said consumers are trying to recreate the restaurant experience at home. Forty-four percent of those surveyed said consumers are requesting value-added products, while 42 percent are requesting products that are ready-to-eat, and 42 percent are demanding ready-to-cook products.
"We have been operating in a volatile and changing market these last few years, and that has helped us become even more closely connected with our customers to navigate strategically together through these changes,” COSFF Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brenden Beck said.
The company’s new Think Big initiative “is an effort to continue directing resources to those key areas that our customers have identified as their biggest challenges and needs, including innovation, sustainability, supply chain connectivity, and market expertise,” Beck said.
Photo courtesy of Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods.
