The average Spanish household consumed less seafood in 2012 compared to 2011, which one fishing industry group said is because of a sagging economy and the perception that fish and other seafood are luxury items.
Recently, Arias Cañete, the Spanish minister of agriculture, food and the environment, produced data on food consumption in 2012, which showed a 1.2 percent drop in seafood volume and a 1.6 percent drop in seafood value compared to 2011.
Luisa Álvarez, the deputy director of the Spanish Federation of Fish Retailers (Fedepesca), said people think seafood will cost too much.
“Generally speaking, the client associates fish with an expensive product, but that is not true,” Álvarez said. “In addition, new generations find it difficult to buy and cook it.”
Álvarez said interest in frozen seafood has declined faster than fresh. Statistics show consumption of fresh fish fell by 0.7 percent, while the consumption of frozen fish decreased by 3.7 percent. As for shellfish, crustaceans and mollusks, consumption of frozen products decreased by 7.2 percent, while fresh and cooked products increased by 2 percent and 6 percent, respectively, she said.
Álvarez blamed these figures on price and the economic situation. “In fact, the reason may be that fish is now really cheap and, in Spain, people prefer fresh products if their price is the same. It can also be because, nowadays, people buy on a daily basis and frozen products are usually associated to long-term consumption (…). It is also true that, as extra domestic consumption has fallen, our businessmen explain that people are tending to cook more special dishes at home.”
Cañete said he reached some of the same conclusions as a result of the data.
“I would define it as ‘going back home,’ that is, we go out less and spend less,” he said.
Regarding where consumers buy seafood, traditional shops are the favorite channel for fresh products, representing 38.3 percent of the market share, although their significance decreased by 2 percent in favor of large supermarkets (up 4.5 percent) and discount shops (up 4.4 percent). Álvarez said he thinks this trend is due to the lack of a new generation and to the planning in new urban areas in which commercial premises located on the ground floor are not taken into account.
For the first time since 2004, the price is once again the most important variable in purchasing. Álvarez said that the client chooses more economic products and, although the number of clients has not decreased, the average spent has.
