Sainsbury’s has released a new report demonstrating
fish consumption and attitudes in the United Kingdom, and the study shows a
market shift in consumer buying habits as more and more people purchase
lesser-known, alternative fish species.
The
“Our Future With Fish” report shows that sales of lesser-known fish species
including pollock, sea bass, coley and tilapia are up as much as 117 percent
year-over-year.
In
addition, the study predicts that more than half of all fish sold in the U.K.
will be outside the “Big 5” — cod, haddock, tuna, salmon and prawns — by
2030.
The
report also shows that the population will be eating more fish, with U.K. adults
set to eat 12 extra fish meals a year by 2030, increasing their weekly
consumption by 17 percent, from 8 million kilograms today to 9.23 million
kilograms.
The
report, commissioned by Sainsbury’s and produced by the Future Foundation, found
that one of the primary drivers for increasing U.K. fish consumption is personal
well-being, with 51 percent of people stating that health concerns have
encouraged them to eat more fish over the last year. However, the report also
identified some of the key barriers to fish consumption levels in the U.K.,
including a lack of recipe knowledge, lack of availability of fresh fish locally
and lack of time to prepare fish from scratch.
“There
is still important work to do in Europe to mend the broken Common Fisheries
Policy, which has contributed to the depleted state of our fish stocks. Fixing
it means we will have a secure supply of fish as a healthy food source, without
destroying fish stocks and damaging the marine environment,” said Richard
Benyon, minister for the natural environment and fisheries. “It’s great to see
Sainsbury’s encouraging shoppers to adjust their individual behaviors and
broaden their tastes away from the main five species of fish, which are under
such environmental pressure. Fish like dab and coley are just as delicious as
some of the more well-known species.”
