Saving Seafood

Inflation is slowing down, but still harming seafood sales

February 14, 2023 — Seafood has continued to see lower inflation rates than many other foods, but price hikes continue to impact its sales across the United States.

Frozen seafood prices jumped 6.3 percent in January to USD 10.44 (EUR 9.74) per unit on average compared to January 2022, according to IRI and 210 Analytics. Ambient seafood inflation rose 7.4 percent to USD 2.14 (EUR 2.00) on average, and fresh seafood experienced the lowest inflation at 3.3 percent to USD 8.95 (EUR 8.35) per unit on average.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

North American grocery chains lower prices to beat inflation

October 19, 2022 — As consumers become increasingly concerned about grocery inflation, select Canadian and United States grocery chains are lowering prices on hundreds of products.

In the most notable example, Brampton, Ontario, Canada-based Loblaw Companies announced a price freeze on more than 1,500 No Name brand items “in an effort provide grocery-bill predictability to Canadians facing the highest food inflation in decades,” the retailer said in a press release. The price freeze will last until the end of January 2023.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Inflation continues to impact US fresh, frozen seafood sales

September 13, 2022 — Inflation continued to impact fresh and frozen seafood sales in U.S. supermarkets in August 2022.

Fresh seafood sales plunged 6.1 percent in August to USD 504 million (EUR 504 million), according to new data from 210 Analytics and IRI Worldwide. Frozen seafood sales declined at a slower rate of 3.6 percent to USD 530 million (EUR 530 million). Conversely, shelf-stable seafood sales rose 5.3 percent to USD 213 million (EUR 213 million).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US shoppers buying less fresh seafood due to inflation

August 24, 2022 — Seafood inflation in grocery stores across the United States has been sky-high in recent months, and new data shows shoppers are buying less as a result.

Fifty-six percent of nearly 1,500 shoppers surveyed in early August 2022 said they noticed increases on meat and seafood prices throughout the past month, according to FMI-The Food Institute’s fifth edition of the U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2022 series, focused on the country’s annual back-to-school drive.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US seafood inflation outpaces record grocery inflation

August 12, 2022 — Overall grocery inflation reached a record in July, but inflation for seafood products outpaced total grocery inflation, according to new data.

The inflation hitting seafood products is outpacing total grocery inflation, and is up 16.8 percent in July versus a year ago, data and tech firm Numerator told SeafoodSource. Frozen seafood grocery prices also soared 14.4 percent versus a year ago – but shrimp and prawns are below the average rate of inflation, rising 8.5 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Rising fuel prices might attract fishermen to fuel efficient multi-hull vessels

August 9, 2022 — With boats in fisheries like New England lobster and Bristol Bay salmon getting progressively wider, and fuel getting more expensive, some boat designers believe it’s only a matter of time before fishermen embrace multi-hull vessels. While the ferry and wind farm industries have been taking advantage of the speed, stability, and fuel efficiency of catamarans for years, multihulls have been a hard sell with commercial fishermen.

“You know how it is with fishermen,” says Marathon, Florida boat designer Walter Schurtenberger. “They stick with what they know.”

Schurtenberger has designed a 65-foot catamaran for the spiny lobster fishery but has not had anyone build it — yet.

“I had two brothers from up the Keys who were very interested,” he says, but he thinks they dissolved their partnership and neither could fund the project on his own.

“The initial design is for a 38-footer,” says Tom Duym of the MCCF. “They built a 22-foot version that they’re going to test.” According to Duym, Maine lobstermen who have looked at the boat have been skeptical about its stability.

“They’re wondering how it will handle in a cross sea or on the stern quarter,” says Duym. “They think it won’t handle so good.”

Professor Doug Reed at the Maine Maritime Academy has been modeling the design and extrapolating how the boat will handle at its full size.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Salmon remains top seller in US, despite inflation

August 1, 2022 –Salmon remains one of the top-selling seafood items in U.S. grocery stores despite rising prices in recent months.

Salmon sales jumped 9.3 percent to more than USD 2.5 billion (EUR 2.5 billion) during the month. The category saw a significant sales hike despite the price per pound jumping 18.2 percent to USD 11.35 (EUR 11.06) for the four weeks ending 26 June. The growth in sales came despite inflation impacting overall fresh seafood sales, which dropped 6.2 percent to nearly USD 6.7 billion (EUR 6.5 billion) for the four weeks ending 10 July, according to IRI and 210 Analytics.

Read the full article at SeaFoodSource

Americans pulling back into “familiar patterns of savings,” harming seafood sales

July 11, 2022 — High inflation continues to impact fresh seafood sales in U.S. grocery stores, but sales of canned and pouched seafood are rising as shoppers cut costs.

Inflation on fresh seafood was down slightly in June compared to the past two months, but was still up 10.9 percent on average per unit for the month.

Frozen seafood sales were also negatively impacted by rising inflation in June, but not as severely as fresh sales, according to new data from IRI and 210 Analytics.

Inflation is also impacting frozen seafood sales, though frozen seafood sales reached USD 520 million in June, outpacing fresh retail sales.

Ninety-three percent of Americans are concerned about inflation and 81 percent are applying money-saving measures, according to IRI’s June consumer shopping habits survey. And 96 percent of consumers say they are paying somewhat or a lot more for grocery items than they did last year, the survey found.

Eighty-one percent of grocery shoppers made changes to what and where they purchased in June, up from 50 percent in the fall of 2021, according to IRI’s June shopper survey.

Changes include looking for sales specials, skipping non-essentials, finding coupons, and buying more private or other low-cost brands.

In addition, 51 percent of shoppers are stocking up on certain items more than usual – 18 percent out of fear they will not be available next time and 26 percent out of concern that prices may rise further.

Read the full story at SeaFoodSource