Seafood carves a niche in the prepared-meals trend

Supermarket sales of prepared foods have risen significantly in the past few years, yet many stores…

Supermarket sales of prepared foods have risen significantly in the past few years, yet many stores lack a variety of customized, portable seafood options. Grocery stores and fish markets can play to consumers’ growing desire for ethnic flavors, customized retail meals and individual portions to boost ready-to-eat seafood sales.

Since the recession, some retailers have been wary about featuring prepared seafood meals because they are typically priced higher than meals with other meats. However, experts say it makes sense to play up seafood’s premium positioning.

“Sometimes, accentuating the quality of a premium offering, while also highlighting its restaurant-like resemblance, could prove to be a profitable strategy that retailers could follow to better compete with restaurant dishes,” says John Frank, category manager, consumer packaged goods-food and drink, for research firm Mintel.

“A big trend we see in retail meal solutions is ‘premiumization’: offering more upscale dishes than in the past as part of that restaurant-quality positioning. Seafood suits that goal perfectly,” adds Jenny Anderson, director of research and consulting for foodservice research and consulting firm Technomic.