The overall volume, value, and number of seafood products sold by U.K. grocery chains has increased over the past year, with particularly strong growth experienced by both the frozen and ambient retail categories, according to the latest Nielsen ScanTrack data published by U.K. trade body Seafish.
Including sales in discounter stores, U.K. shoppers bought almost GBP 3.92 billion (USD 4.8 billion, EUR 4.4 billion) worth of seafood in the year through 18 April, 2019, representing an increase of 2 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the volume of products sold climbed 2.5 percent to 404,043 metric tons (MT), while the number of units sold was up 2.1 percent to 1.5 billion.
This 12-month period included the first four weeks of the country’s ongoing coronavirus lockdown.
Over the course of the 52-week survey period, the average price paid for all seafood items was down to GBP 2.60 (USD 3.17, EUR 2.90) per unit, and the average price per kilogram slipped to GBP 9.70 (USD 11.82, EUR 10.82).
These latest retail sales figures saw chilled seafood, which accounted for 60.2 percent of total purchases, experience a 0.8 percent decrease in sales value, falling to GBP 2.36 billion (USD 2.9 billion, EUR 2.6 billion). However, the volume of chilled sales increased by 0.4 percent to 179,930 MT, while the number of units sold lifted 0.7 percent to 750.7 million. The average price paid across the category was GBP 13.12 (USD 15.98, EUR 14.64) per kilogram and GBP 3.14 (USD 3.83, EUR 3.50) per unit, down by 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
In the other main product categories, the value of the frozen seafood sales jumped 6 percent to GBP 964.4 million (USD 1.2 billion, EUR 1.1 billion), and ambient seafood soared by 7.7 percent to GBP 593.2 million (USD 722.6 million, EUR 661.9 million).
The volume sold in frozen was up 2.1 percent to 134,457 MT and the number of units purchased increased 3.1 percent to than 372.8 million, while the ambient volume rose 7.9 percent to 89,655 MT and the number of units sold increased by 4 percent to 384.5 million.
Average frozen seafood prices for the 12 months increased by 3.9 percent to GBP 7.17 (USD 8.73, EUR 8.00) per kilogram, and by 2.8 percent to GBP 2.59 (USD 3.15, EUR 2.89) per unit. Ambient seafood prices decreased by 0.1 percent per kilogram to GBP 6.62 (USD 8.06, EUR 7.38), but increased 3.6 percent to GBP 1.54 (USD 1.88, EUR 1.72) per unit.
Frozen and ambient sales accounted for 24.6 percent and 15.1 percent of the U.K. retail market value, respectively.
In terms of the species sold across during the 12-month period, the U.K. retail market continued to be led by salmon with sales approaching GBP 1.1 billion (USD 1.3 billion, EUR 1.2 billion), up 1.4 percent year-on-year. In volume terms, sales increased by 1.9 percent to 64,717 MT, and unit sales were 1.7 percent higher at 285.9 million.
Cod and tuna followed with sales values of GBP 485.7 million (USD 591.5 million, EUR 541.9 million) and GBP 441.9 million (USD 538.2 million, EUR 493 million), rising 0.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.
Salmon prices were 0.5 percent lower year-on-year at GBP 16.87 (USD 20.55, EUR 18.82) per kilogram, while cod was up 2.8 percent to GBP 8.29 (USD 10.10, EUR 9.25), and tuna fell by 2.6 percent to GBP 6.60 (USD 8.04, EUR 7.36).
The most sales growth was seen with eighth-placed pollock, with U.K. shoppers buying 32,903 MT of the fish (up 6 percent) or 87.5 million units (up 7.6 percent). This generated a total sales value of GBP 164.2 million (USD 200 million, EUR 183.2 million), which was 13.2 percent more than in the previous 12 months.
A strong upturn was also seen in pangasius sales, with 8,403 MT sold (up 15.5 percent), comprising 26.2 million units (up 11.2 percent), and generating revenues in excess of GBP 65 million (USD 79.2 million, EUR 72.5 million) – up 11.7 percent.
The analysis also identified that the largest decline was with crab products. The volume fell 27.4 percent to 1,506 MT and the number of units sold dropped 22.4 percent to 6,355 MT. Crab sales for the 12 months totaled GBP 23.3 million (USD 28.4 million, EUR 26 million), down 14.5 percent year-on-year.
With 21.1 percent of the total sales value, Tesco remained the country’s leading seafood retailer, followed by Sainsbury’s with 14.2 percent, and Aldi with 11.8 percent. Aldi, Lidl, and Co-op were the only chains in the top 12 to grow market-share over the year.
Photo courtesy of Svetlana Foote/Shutterstock
