By Rick Stein, Vice President of Fresh Foods and Steve Markenson, Vice President, Research & Insights, FMI
The seafood department has been a bit of a conundrum lately. During the COVID-19 pandemic seafood sales were up, but now we’re seeing seafood sales back to 2019 levels. The roller coaster may cause a seafood merchandiser to scratch their head, but as the Power of Seafood 2024 finds, there are several tried and true strategies to help seafood department sales. Done right and you’ll not only strengthen loyalty with frequent seafood customers, but you might just convert some occasional seafood shoppers to be more frequent seafood shoppers, eating seafood two or more times a week.
Educate about Health and Well-being Attributes
Most shoppers (86%) put at least some effort into selecting nutrition and healthy food options. Two-thirds of seafood consumers (66%) say nutrition and health are the primary or very important reasons they eat seafood. With the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommending eating seafood two or more times a week, there is an opportunity to emphasize the nutrition and health benefits of seafood. Consider partnering with MyPlate to help bring the Dietary Guidelines to life for your shoppers and showcase how seafood options can help meet shoppers’ health and well-being needs.
Teach Shoppers to Cook Seafood
Shoppers have traditionally reserved seafood for restaurant meals, but that trend is changing. Today, most seafood is prepared and cooked at home (59%). Help shoppers with recipes, cooking demos and meal ideas connected to health and well-being goals both in-store, online and in your app. In-store, knowledgeable seafood staff and a well-stocked seafood counter can create an engaging experience that entices shoppers and provides value.
Explain Seafood Sustainability
Sixty four percent of seafood shoppers say at least one aspect of sustainability impacts their seafood choice. Although consumer confusion about what exactly sustainable seafood means persists, the consensus among shoppers is that sustainable seafood is “good.” Educate shoppers about your sustainable seafood offerings with signage in-store and help shoppers go beyond labels and dig deeper into sustainable seafood options online and in your app.
The important thing to remember is that many shoppers learned how to cook and prepare seafood during the COVID-19 pandemic. These shoppers have not forgotten those skills, and many will come back to seafood options for home meals. Keep these tried and true tactics to heart and you’ll see seafood shoppers develop a strong loyalty for your store.
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