Despite declining volumes of seafood being sold across U.K. retail, shoppers have been buying more whitefish, particularly the traditional favorites of cod and haddock.
For the 12 months ending 9 September 2017, the total volume of seafood sold in the retail channel amounted to 322,348 metric tons (MT), a decrease of 1.8 percent year-on-year, while the number of unit sales fell by 1.9 percent to less than 1.2 billion, according to the latest Nielsen ScanTrack data published by Seafish.
In terms of value, these sales amounted to almost GBP 3.2 billion (USD 4.2 billion, EUR 3.6 billion), which was up 3.2 percent compared with the previous 12 months. This total was accounted for by a 5.2 percent increase in the average price paid for seafood, which stood at GBP 9.97 (USD 13.15, EUR 11.19) per kg.
Total cod sales over the period increased 3.8 percent in volume to 48,644 MT, achieving a value of GBP 397.3 million (USD 524.1 million, EUR 446.1 million) – an increase of 5.3 percent. The number of cod unit sales increased by 1.9 percent to 138.1 million, and the average price paid by consumers increased by 1.5 percent year-on-year to GBP 8.17 (USD 10.78, EUR 9.18) per kg.
Haddock sales, meanwhile, increased by 4.4 percent in volume to 20,135 MT, achieving a value of almost GBP 204.1 million (USD 269.3 million, EUR 229.2 million), representing an increase of 4.9 percent. The number of haddock unit sales increased by 2.7 percent to 65.2 million, and the average price paid by consumers increased by 0.5 percent year-on-year to GBP 10.14 (USD 13.38, EUR 11.39) per kg.
With regard to product formats, chilled cod and haddock sales increased to GBP 183.5 million (USD 242.2 million, EUR 206.1 million) and GBP 144.3 million (USD 190.5 million, EUR 162.1 million) respectively. Frozen cod and haddock sales, meanwhile, climbed to GBP 213.4 million (USD 281.7 million, EUR 239.6 million) and GBP 59.8 million (USD 78.9 million, EUR 67.2 million).
