Despite the diversity of species and products available to the United Kingdom, shellfish sales continue to trail behind other seafood products when it comes to the value achieved and volume sold in the market, but there are multiple opportunities to close the gap, delegates heard at the 48th Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) Annual Conference in London.
According to the latest market data from the U.K. Seafish Authority, presented at the event by Julia Brooks, market insight analyst at the authority, the U.K. public spent GBP 6.2 billion (USD 8 billion, EUR 7.2 billion) on seafood products in the 12 months to 22 April 2017. In multiple retail (not including discount grocers), sales during this period totaled GBP 3.2 billion (USD 4.1 billion, EUR 3.7 billion), while in commercial foodservice, seafood sales reached GBP 3 billion (USD 3.9 billion, EUR 3.5 billion). In both channels, shellfish sales amounted to GBP 600 million (USD 777.2 million, EUR 693.1 million), accounting for a combined 19 percent share of the market.
In the United Kingdom, shellfish is predominantly bought by over 35-year-olds, mainly from more affluent households. Within this demographic, the consumer motivations for buying shellfish include it being a traditional favorite and a healthy, premium treat. Crucially, this band of consumers also has greater confidence in preparing such products than younger shoppers, said Brooks.
Conversely, younger consumers consider shellfish to be old fashioned, expensive and intimidating.
“They don’t know what to do with it; there’s a lack of menu inspiration and they don’t know what to eat with it. They are also put off by the appearance; it can be messy and smelly. There are also quality misconceptions where if they don’t prepare it properly they will fall ill. It’s also time consuming – taking too long to prepare and cook.”
Despite these perceptions, Brooks said overall shellfish sales in retail have been seeing “really positive growth” – outstripping the growth of the broader seafood category.
While the total seafood sales value increased 1.6 percent in the aforementioned 12-month period, the value of shellfish sales climbed 3.7 percent. Crucially, the volume of shellfish sold grew 4.1 percent to 43,818 metric tons (MT) and the frequency of shopper visits to buy these products increased 3.6 percent. By comparison, for total seafood, the volume sold over the 12 months amounted to 326,320 MT, down 0.7 percent, and the frequency of store visits only increased by 1.6 percent.
Within shellfish retail, crustaceans dominated sales, accounting for 92 percent of the market and achieving a total value of GBP 538 million (USD 696.9 million, EUR 621.5 million), up 4.1 percent. The volume sold increased 4 percent to 38,759 MT. Warmwater and coldwater shrimp led this market, accounting for 88 percent of total sales (combined). Indeed, Brooks highlighted that warmwater shrimp sales increased by more than 10 percent year-on-year.
The total sales value of mollusks, meanwhile, declined by 1.2 percent year-on-year to GBP 46 million (USD 59.6 million, EUR 53.1 million), but the volume increased by 4.6 percent to 5,059 MT. Mussel sales now account for 48 percent of the market, up 8.4 percent year-on-year.
Despite the relatively strong performance of shellfish with most stores offering products aimed at different levels of cooking competence, Brooks said that retailers need to keep ahead of the changing demands of shoppers.
“They want good value products that don’t skimp on quality. They are not there to compromise,” she said. “They want a range of products in convenient formats. Overall, they want a positive in-store experience.”
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom’s commercial out-of-home (OOH) foodservice channel, shellfish, and seafood in general, have underperformed in the last year, despite the industry continuing to see positive growth with people increasingly going out to eat.
In 2016, the total value achieved by U.K. foodservice increased 3.5 percent to GBP 73.2 billion (USD 94.8 billion, EUR 84.6 million), but within this figure, seafood sales fell by 6.5 percent. Indeed, only seafood and beef saw any decline in servings over the 12 months, said Brooks.
“People have been switching to other proteins. And now seafood has a job to do to build that back up.”
Shellfish found the foodservice channel particularly challenging last year, with overall spend down 17.9 percent, but Brooks highlighted a big opportunity to recapture some of that lost market share in the quick service restaurants (QSRs), where current visits that include a shellfish purchase amount to just 0.3 percent despite it accounting for almost 30 percent of total foodservice seafood servings.
Delegates heard that as with retail, foodservice needs to move with the times and revise its shellfish offerings, she said. It should look to adapt through unique outlets, locations and service methods. It should innovate through its menus, offering differentiated menus that embrace ethics and sustainability stories as well as promoting the health benefits of shellfish and finding ways to deal with waste issues.
Most importantly, it needs to excel, providing high-quality products and a memorable eating experience, she advised.
Across the consumer platform, Brooks said strategies should be adopted that inspire consumption through new recipes and flavors, while ranges should be developed to incorporate different meal occasions and to cater for different budgets. Additionally, products need to be made much more convenient, they should minimize mess, smell, time and waste, while also offering important consumer assurances that align value for money with health and quality credentials.
“There are lots of challenges, but also lots of opportunities for shellfish market growth at consumer, retail and foodservice levels,” she said.
