Brits are becoming more adventurous in their taste for fish, latest stats can reveal.
Cheshunt, England, 2015-3-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — Many Brits supposedly lack confidence when it comes to preparing and eating fish, with a recent industry survey finding that more than half (56 per cent) of adults don’t consume the recommended weekly amount of seafood.
But now new sales data from Tesco shows that shoppers are starting to become more confident when choosing to cook at home.
In the last year, Tesco has seen the following significant demand for fish – all of which have been responsibly sourced:
- Raw tiger prawns– demand up 1100 per cent in the last year
- Oysters – up 240 per cent
- Large crab – up 110 per cent
- Whole turbot – up 100 per cent
- Whole hake – up 65 per cent
- Smoked haddock loin – up 50 per cent
- Sea bream fillets – up 45 per cent
- Prepared squid – up 40 per cent
- Lobster – up 30 per cent
- Whole lemon sole – up 30 per cent
- Whole sea bream – up 25 per cent
- Whole mackerel – up 25 per cent
- Brill – up 15 per cent
In the past, consumers are said to have been put off by bones or the cost of fish.
In recent years however the range has grown at supermarkets and counter staff are able to prepare fish so it’s ready to cook, which takes the stress out of preparation at home.
Tesco fishmongers are also trained to give cooking advice over the counter, which encourages customers to try something new.
Tesco seafood specialist Gary Hooper, who is also a director of the National Federation of Fishmongers said: “It’s well known in the seafood industry that many Brits lack confidence when it comes to fish, believing it to be hard to prepare, tricky to eat, perishable and also expensive.
“What we do through our training scheme for fish counters staff is help eradicate that fear and make shoppers feel more confident when it comes to choosing their fish.
“The rise in demand for more uncommon species such as turbot, sea bream, squid and brill shows that shoppers are becoming much more adventurous in trying new types of fish.
Seafish Chief Executive Paul Williams said: “With the increasing popularity in cookery and food programmes and just general awareness of the sustainability of the fish in our seas, we are seeing much more interest from consumers in trying new types of seafood.
“People are starting to realise they don’t need to stick to the usual suspects such as cod, salmon, tuna or prawns because there is a much bigger choice of species that they can experiment with. .
“Whilst as a nation we will always love our traditional fish and chips or fish pie, there is a growing sense of adventure when it comes to enjoying seafood today suggesting people are letting go of their fears of preparing and cooking seafood.”
ENDS
Note to editors:
*The survey by industry body Seafish polled more than 2000 UK adults aged 18 plus.
For more information please contact the Tesco Press Office on
01992 644645
We are a team of over 500,000 people in 12 markets dedicated to providing the most compelling offer to our customers.
###