The value and volume of shrimp sold in the U.K. retail continued to grow last year with the combined sales of warmwater and coldwater varieties only bested by salmon.
According to the latest HomeScan data supplied by the U.K. Seafish Authority, total shrimp sales for the 52 weeks ending 3 December 2016 amounted to GBP 439.3 million (USD 527.6 million, EUR 497.3 million). The volume bought during this period increased 5.6 percent to 31,991 metric tons (MT). By comparison, the retail channel’s salmon sales amounted to GBP 820.6 million (USD 1 billion, EUR 949 million), based on a volume of 69,557 MT.
Chilled shrimp dominated sales with a total value of GBP 313.2 million (USD 376.2 million, EUR 354.6 million), based on a volume of 20,905 MT, representing increases of 6.8 percent and 5.9 percent respectively. The number of unit sales during this period also increased by 5.9 percent to 103.3 million.
Total frozen shrimp sales amounted to GBP 126 million (USD 151.3 million, EUR 142.6 million) with a volume of 20,905 MT, up 5.3 percent and 5 percent respectively. Ambient sales, meanwhile, achieved a value of just GBP 94,000 (USD 112,896, EUR 106,409) based on a volume of 14 MT, down 3.7 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.
The average price paid per kg during the aforementioned 52 weeks was GBP 14.98 (USD 17.99, EUR 16.95) for chilled shrimp, GBP 11.38 (USD 13.67, EUR 12.88) for frozen and GBP 6.83 (USD 8.20, EUR 7.73) for ambient shrimp.
In terms of the coldwater-warmwater split, the total value of coldwater shrimp sales increased marginally to GBP 178.4 million (USD 214.2 million, EUR 202 million), while the volume sold declined 6 percent to 13,901 MT. Warmwater shrimp sales increased 11.1 percent in value and 16.7 percent in volume to GBP 260.9 million (USD 313.3 million, EUR 295.3 million) and 18,090 MT. As a result of volume fluctuations, the average retail price of coldwater shrimp in 2016 increased by 6.5 percent to GBP 12.84 (USD 15.42, EUR 14.53) per kg, while the average price paid for warmwater shrimp decreased 4.8 percent to GBP 14.42 (USD 17.31, EUR 16.32) per kg.
According to Seafish, total sales of seafood in retail for in-home consumption reached GBP 3.1 billion (USD 3.7 billion, EUR 3.5 billion) in the 52-week period, an increase of 1 percent. In volume terms, these sales equated to 329,626 MT of products.
