Fish sales continue to grow

8th April 2008, 2:23pm

Fish sales in the UK market reached a massive £3.25 billion last year, according to the Fish & Fish Products Market Report.

Fish and its products increased in value by 35.5% at current prices between 2003 and 2007. Factors such as health, the growing range of convenience products and added-value products helped to drive sales.

Particularly strong growth was seen in the areas of prepared fish and fresh fish, but the consumption of frozen fish slumped. Continued interest in healthy eating is also expected to support sales.

In addition, the value of the market has been driven by the relatively high rate of inflation in the sector. The cost of fish is becoming more expensive as global demand rises.

In the chilled-fish sector, growth has come from added-value and breaded products, whereas in the frozen sector, it has come from natural and battered products.

Meanwhile sales have grown slower in the canned-fish sector, rising by 6.5% in 2007.

In 2006, there were around 1,300 retail fishmongers in the UK, however around 89% of the value of fish sales was accounted for by supermarkets.

The market for fish and its products is dominated by large companies such as Young's Seafood Ltd, Heinz Company and Icelandic Group UK, while two companies dominating the sales of canned fish are John West and Princes Ltd.

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