While the amount of seafood sold in U.K. retail has continued to decline over the past year, shoppers have been buying more whitefish, with cod and haddock leading the way.
For the 12 months ending 26 March 2016, the total volume of seafood sold in the retail channel amounted to 330,194 metric tons (MT), a decrease of 0.3 percent year-on-year, while the number of unit sales fell 0.9 percent to 194,477, according to the latest Nielsen ScanTrack data published by Seafish.
In terms of value, these sales amounted to GBP 3.1 billion (USD 4 billion, EUR 3.6 billion), an increase of 0.1 percent year-on-year.
Some 45,417 MT of cod were sold in retail during the 12-month period for GBP 367.3 million (USD 472.9 million, EUR 423 million), representing increases of 4.7 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. At the same time, haddock sales totaled 18,558 MT with a value of GBP 189.1 million (USD 243.4 million, EUR 217.8 million), up 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
Also following the whitefish growth trend, seabass sales amounted to 3,259 MT with a value of GBP 49.7 million (USD 64 million, EUR 57.2 million) – representing rises of 14.2 percent and 19 percent; pangasius sales totaled 5,358 MT worth GBP 46.1 million (USD 59.3 million, EUR 53.1 million) – up 15.3 percent and 17.4 percent; and plaice sales totaled 2,875 MT worth GBP 28.9 million (USD 37.2 million, EUR 33.3 million) – up 2 percent and 8 percent.
Sales of pollock, however, fell by 21.2 percent year-on-year to 25,727 MT with a value of GBP 115.2 million (USD 148.3 million, EUR 132.7 million), down 25.8 percent.
