Evolving retail channels in a disrupted global seafood market

These are presenting exciting opportunities for retailers and food operators to reach and satisfy consumers with unprecedented variety and choice.

In this article, we discuss how consumers are maximising value in their food budget. We explore the factors accelerating demand for convenience. And we showcase how businesses are responding, bringing innovative and appealing seafood options to market via new retail and sales channels.

• Balancing luxury and cost in seafood purchases
• Accelerating demand for convenience
• Premiumisation of seafood at home options
• Continued growth in food deliveries
• New & emerging routes to market
• The power of "fishfluencers" and social media

Fish and seafood is a regular weeknight meal around the world, in fact some 3.3 billion people rely on it as their primary source of protein. But often it comes with an aura of luxury.

Inflation began to climb in late 2021 and the cost of living rose faster than at any point in the last 40 years for many countries. Seafood was not exempt, so consumers started seeking out cheaper deals for food, which provided the right balance of quality and cost.

They switched supermarkets as they tightened their belts, opting for value-focused brands, or seeking special offers, loyalty programmes and bundle deals. Meanwhile, in this economic climate, reduced prices became increasingly compelling for budget-conscious consumers.

To understand more, we asked seafood consumers in 17 countries how price was impacting their seafood decisions. And when we asked what they were doing in response to increased seafood prices, the main theme was a shift towards eating at home more often – cooking at home more while buying fewer ready meals and eating less often at restaurants while enjoying more "occasion" meals at home. To discover how seafood retailers and food operators are adapting to these needs, we took a wide-ranging look at the landscape.

The desire for convenience has been around a long time. However, online shopping, deliveries and takeaways became the ‘new normal’ during the pandemic. And as lifestyles have become busier – and consumers more tech savvy - this need has intensified.

Today, people around the world can have sushi delivered in minutes, prepare restaurant-quality meals at home using meals kit, or snack on healthy, nutritious seafood on the go. In the meantime, technology is making it easier than ever to bring seafood within "an arm’s reach of desire".

Tech creating opportunities

Technology has been driving change in foodservice and grocery retail at an increasing rate, with the use of everything from delivery apps to omnichannel services such as "click and collect" becoming mainstream.

Now, innovative new approaches like social commerce are making it easier for consumers to discover and sample new dishes, and for seafood companies to reach and engage with them at scale.

Gen Z: driving innovation

The seafood market of the future; Gen Z have grown up on devices and they play an important role in their lives. For this generation, mobile pay, app-based services and simple online transactions are integral to seafood purchases.

Many also have strong opinions on seafood provenance, having grown up in the shadow of climate change. Moving seamlessly between the on and offline world, they’re strongly influenced by online ads, brands and social media. This might explain their preference for brands with a strong story or purpose, plus those committed to green practices.

To meet these evolving needs, retailers and food operators alike have come up with mouth-watering ‘occasion’ meals that can be prepared in minutes and enjoyed at home.

Ready meals luxe

Straight-from-fridge or freezer ready: ready meals are not new, but have undergone a significant improvement in quality, with high-end options increasingly available. This has amped up the appeal of seafood, with a nod to quality and health as well as convenience.

Ready-to-prepare meal kits

Meal kits boomed during the pandemic as restaurants carved out new ways to keep their businesses going. Convenient hassle-free dishes that consumers can easily prepare at home, these consist of pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes. Allowing even those with limited cooking skills to enjoy restaurant-quality meals, without the hassle of meal planning and grocery shopping.

High-end seafood meal kits

As well as hinting to luxury, seafood meal kits offer the potential for calorie control and portion sizing. Providing convenience and quality, this appeals to people on weight-loss programmes. While the ability to filter by ingredients caters for those with allergies or other dietary needs.

Distinct from the weeknight ready meal, seafood meal kits offer indulgence too. Examples include Cajun shrimp and sweet pepper wild Alaskan salmon, spicy maple-glazed tilapia with fig and roasted vegetable rice or baked parmesan- and panko-coated salmon with squash and garlic kale. All designed to be table-ready in around 30 minutes.

Online shopping and deliveries accelerated during Covid-19. While most markets saw growth, aggregators like Just Eat Takeaway and Delivery Hero also started venturing into grocery deliveries.

Despite this, Statista warns that the sector comes with "big risks" as "quick commerce has yet to prove profitable".

The market is expected to grow steadily too, in fact, Statista has predicted that:

• Online food deliveries would reach $1.22 trillion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.06%, resulting in a projected market volume of $1.79 trillion by 2028.
• Grocery deliveries would reach a market volume of $790 billion in 2024, with revenue growth of 20.3% the following year.
• Meal deliveries would enjoy continued growth, achieving 2.5 billion users by 2028.

When asked why South Koreans are so ready to embrace new retail channels, Mia Sætre Bernhardsen, NSC country manager, says,

“Korea has a clear advantage of logistics. This is a very small country that is highly urbanised, so it has a totally different logistical set up than most other countries. Advanced logistics and this reliable cold chain means companies can offer quality products.”

But high levels of trust for digital seafood options didn’t happen overnight.

“Koreans started out buying frozen products online. [..] as a consumer, there is greater confidence in a frozen product when buying online.”

Another trust factor is Korean traits.

“People are very honest here, so when a seafood e-commerce product has 20,000 reviews, consumers can feel really confident that this is a good product.”

But the reverse is true too.

“If you make an error and deliver a product that is of lower quality, people will know.”

As K-pop bands drive the wave of cultural appreciation for Korea, what elements of its seafood market does Bernhardsen think are most likely to be exported? For her, it’s all about e-commerce and convenience. But she’d like to see mackerel become more popular too.

“Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan eat a lot of mackerel. It’s a favourite dish here, so maybe the K-wave can bring mackerel to more people.”

As well as adapting seafood products to meet consumer needs, retailers have been getting creative with sales channels, providing options that blend physical with online, and offering food inspiration and education online and over social media.

Omnichannel seafood retail

In the UK, Dockside Seafood is one of a growing number of omnichannel seafood retailers. Founded in 1980, the Fleetwood Docks firm has a fishmongers and preparation warehouse that is open to the public seven days a week.

Twenty years ago, it expanded into the wholesale business and today it offers fresh and frozen fish and seafood online – as well as fish boxes, condiments and recipe inspiration.

Luxury seafood on subscription

Established in the US in 1928, Wulf’s Fish has become a national brand, shipping luxurious seafood: from arctic char to bluefin tuna, cod to hiramasa kingfish, crab and lobster to octopus and squid. It offers gift cards and selection boxes and gives regular customers the opportunity to build their own subscriptions.

Child-friendly seafood

Another US brand is Blue Circle Foods, which offers fillets as well as child-friendly online fish options – with a leaning towards salmon – using fillet offcuts to create salmon sausages and hotdogs, burgers and ‘happy fish’ (essentially fish-shaped fish fingers).

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As more consumers go online and become confident using tech to make purchases, we’re seeing an increase in seafood retailers and food operators using social media and online to attract and engage new markets. These are showing considerable success as sales channels in countries like China too.

Engaging new markets

A month after being invited onboard Ava Ocean’s "Arctic Pearl" by the NSC, the video posted by fishfluencer, Jimin, to his Korean jiminTV YouTube channel had more than 154,000 views.

Another 17-minute video on Norwegian mackerel amassed almost 2 million views over a year. Jimin enjoys some 1.4 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, showing the reach social media can provide for seafood – something the industry is increasingly taking note of.

In January 2023, IntraFish reported that Gorton’s had enlisted eight influencers to promote its new air-fried shrimp. The seafood industry veteran already had 139,000 TikTok followers, but wanted to extend its reach to younger consumers, so brought in influencers including Chef Ced (358,000 followers and 6 million TikTok likes) and Allysa in the Kitchen (470,000 followers, 12.9 million likes).

Reputational risks

Social media can be risky too. Media outlet ABC reported on booming online criticism for Tasmania’s salmon farming sector following the publication of Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry.

And in 2021, the Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation warned that social media campaigns posed a risk to the country’s budding aquaculture industry.

China is trailblazing the seafood market when it comes to e-commerce and social commerce. NSC Country Director, Andreas Thorud explains:

“Social commerce is very different to e-commerce, where you go in with a clear objective of buying something. With social commerce, you might be browsing Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok – scrolling through videos and content you like. Suddenly, you come into a livestream room where fresh salmon is being promoted. You put it in your shopping basket and before you know what happened, it’s arrived the next day.”

As well as social commerce and more "traditional" online shopping, China’s Little Red Book App (Xiaohongshu) – described as "Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon in one" – has become the go-to for consumer reviews.

“Red is where consumers go and read, view and talk about things, where you see a lot of human-to human marketing. If you came to Shanghai and gathered 10 people aged 25 to 45 around a table, and asked where you should buy Norwegian salmon in Shanghai, I’m sure nine out of 10 will look on Red rather than Baidu (the Chinese equivalent of Google).”

Although the NSC in China has typically focused on B2B, it has achieved considerable success in consumer channels in recent years.

“In 2023, we had a very successful strategic collaboration [with Red], working with various types of users – key opinion leaders, key opinion consumers. Those collaborations generated more than 390 posts and an incredible 15 million views across various articles.

Apps like this help build the trust that allows people to try new things, to buy online or through social channels – even when they haven’t set out to buy anything at all. It’s like an infrastructure for you to verify whether or not something is dependable.”

The shifts in seafood consumption highlighted by our research illustrate the dynamic interplay between cost management, convenience, and innovation. As consumers seek ways to maximise their budgets without compromising on quality, they are turning to more affordable convenient options – many for consumption at home.

And this trend is being fuelled by innovative new sales channels and the rise of social commerce, particularly in markets like China.

From balancing luxury and cost to leveraging the influence of social media and ‘fishfluencers’, retailers and food operators can capitalise on these changes by offering diverse and appealing options that cater to evolving consumer tastes.

The emergence of omnichannel retail strategies and growth in convenience-driven products reflects a broader shift towards a more versatile consumer-centric market. By embracing these trends and continuing to innovate, businesses can not only meet but exceed consumer expectations. Helping the seafood industry to thrive for years to come.