Tough year for seafood sales
“Falling food, fuel and energy costs have boosted shopper confidence which gained momentum towards the end of the year. However, times are still tough; with wages lagging behind inflation and incomes still below pre-crisis levels, the legacy of increasing rent, housing and fuel prices still keenly felt," Watson says.
He says shoppers have stuck to the money-saving tactics adopted during the recession, shopping multiple channels, multiple store missions with vouchers and couponing going from strength to strength.
“The focus is on value for money, saving on the everyday staples but willing to spend on quality and special treats. Data is not yet in, but experts forecasted ‘slow’ growth for Christmas 2014 with a decline in the big ‘Christmas’ grocery shop,” Watson reveals,
Moving into 2015, however, he says promotions have become less important to shoppers, who have become frustrated with the complexity and the uninspiring lack of depth.
“We expect the shift back to everyday low prices (EDLP) will grow as the multiples battle to slow the rise of the discounters.
“2015 is likely to be a challenging year for the industry. Seafood has been experiencing a sustained period of price inflation and falling volumes. Set against a background of falling food inflation, this makes seafood an ever more expensive protein choice,” he warns.
However, he says salmon still remains a popular choice: “Shoppers do not appear to have lost their taste for salmon though, which has continued to outperform many other species. Although data is not available for Christmas 2014, there has been a steady decline in peak total Christmas seafood sales (volume) since 2011; however, both smoked and unsmoked salmon volume sales have increased,” he points out.
