THE FISHMONGER
Institutions: the aquaculture opportunity By: the fishmonger
Let us be honest, supermarkets have generally not done much good
for the seafood industry and have constantly failed the consumer.
P
oor displays, lack of trained staff, poor management of counters and much wasted food. And now, consequently, there is clearly a general shift from the ‘fresh fish’ counter to such things as pre-packed, chilled seafood and hot food counters. The UK Grocer magazine recently revealed that Walmart-owned Asda Stores Ltd chain are planning to close all their meat and fish counters. This news follows on from the decision by
72 »
Tesco to close some of their service counters including fish – a potential worrying sign for aquaculture production. Supermarkets are looking at short term profits only, as removing fresh counters means losing the point of differentiation between the larger retailer and the discounters, as fish counters provide a greater variety for consumers. Supermarkets have realised that fish on ice has a much shorter shelf
life compared to pre-packaged fish so they will always point to the move away from fish counters as being driven by the need for operational efficiency and improved waste management. Sadly, few invest in staff training to understand the nuances in setting up counters and engaging consumers and so reap what they sow in that area. If the retailer puts on a poor seafood display, then clearly the informed consumer is either going to buy elsewhere or worse still, buy other protein! As their fish counters have fewer and fewer customers, this impacts the display offering, and evidence shows that downsizing fresh fish counters has been occurring for a while and it is very difficult to reverse. Space is money to supermarkets and if the space is not providing the income then change will occur. The US and UK are experiencing declining home consumption of seafood. Whether this is due to the poor offerings and lack of excitement created at the seafood counters or just a general move to more convenience in the busy lives of consumers no one really knows. But the inevitable is
