More than 3,589 metric tons (MT) of mussels have been sold in the U.K. grocery channel for at-home consumption over the past year, 3.5 percent more than in the previous 12 months despite higher average prices.
According to the latest Nielsen ScanTrack data supplied by the U.K. Seafish Authority, 10.6 million mussel product sales took place in the 52 weeks ending 27 January 2018, representing an increase of 1.6 percent year-on-year. In value terms, these sales reached almost GBP 22.2 million (USD 30.6 million, EUR 25.1 million), which was 4.2 percent more than in the previous 12 months.
At the same time, the average price per kg climbed slightly to GBP 6.26 (USD 8.64, EUR 7.07) and the average price per unit jumped 2.6 percent to GBP 2.09 (USD 2.88, EUR 2.36).
In terms of categories, 2,869 MT of mussels worth GBP 17.7 million (USD 24.4 million, EUR 20 million) were sold in chilled formats, 489 MT worth almost GBP 2.8 million (USD 3.9 million, EUR 3.2 million) were sold in frozen and ambient mussel product sales totaled 181 MT worth GBP 1.7 million (USD 2.3 million, EUR 1.9 million).
The average price per kg for chilled mussels increased by 1.6 percent to GBP 6.17 (USD 8.51, EUR 6.97), while the price for ambient products rose by 4.1 percent to GBP 9.13 (USD 12.60, EUR 10.32). However, the average price for frozen mussels fell by 4.9 percent to GBP 5.71 (USD 7.88, EUR 6.45) per kg.
The most commonly sold mussel species in the United Kingdom is the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis).
Seafish’s figures also find that a total 12,723 MT of shellfish was sold in U.K. retail for GBP 119.3 million (USD 164.7 million, EUR 134.8 million) over the aforementioned 12-month period, representing increases of 3.1 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.
