Last updated on July 23rd, 2024
Seafood has experienced far less inflation than total food and beverages, according to Circana and 210 Analytics.
The price per pound for total refrigerated/fresh seafood decreased, driven by finfish and shellfish. Frozen and shelf-stable seafood prices also declined year over year. However, at an average price per pound of $9.49, the cost for fresh and frozen seafood remained much higher than the average price per pound for the three biggest animal proteins of chicken ($3.06), pork ($3.22) and beef ($6.73).
Four out of the top five sellers in refrigerated/fresh seafood showed deflationary conditions for May. Only tilapia had a small increase in the average price per pound. The same is true for the 52-week view.
In the frozen food aisle, the average price per pound for shrimp decreased by 5.3 percent and frozen salmon prices were down 4.3 percent from May 2023. The deflation in many of the large fresh and frozen commodities means having to sell more volume to drive dollar sales.
Across the store
All eyes were on May to see how a month free of the Easter timing impact would perform. May counts several holidays, including Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, but these did not bring much relief to the ongoing woes in the seafood sector. Fresh and frozen experienced drops in dollar and pound sales in May. In the 52-week view, frozen seafood pounds remained stable.
Ambient
During the five May weeks, ambient seafood in cans and pouches reached $310 million in sales, which reflected a dollar increase of 2.2 percent over May 2023. Tuna by far was the largest seller, and all formats grew units in May.
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Fresh
May brought a small win for fresh seafood in that finfish experienced a 0.2 percent increase in pound sales over May 2023 levels. Due to deflation, dollars fell 1.8 percent short of year ago sales. Shellfish, which is going up against a strong 2023 performance, fell short in dollars and volume.
The timeline for fresh/refrigerated shellfish shows a decline throughout much of 2023, though pound growth trended in the plus. Since the beginning of the year, pound and dollar sales have trended in negative territory.
Mother’s Day, the week ending May 12, saw a spike in sales in comparison to the other May weeks. Whereas most weeks average between $155 million and $160 million, Mother’s Day week exceeded $180 million in fresh/refrigerated seafood sales. However, most weeks fell short of last year’s dollar and pound sales.
Top species
Sales across the top eight fresh seafood species were inconsistent. Salmon, the market leader, generated more than three times the sales of crab, the No. 2. Salmon dollar sales were down in May, but not was much as the declines seen in crab and shrimp. However, much of these results had to do with inflation.
Salmon and crab pounds were virtually flat in comparison to May 2023. Lobster sales are showing the opposite pattern. Pounds were down more than 20 percent in May, yet dollar sales were flat. Cod was the only species with robust pound gains.
Frozen
The total frozen food department generated $8.2 billion in sales. Unit sales remained ahead of May 2023, with strength for meals and processed meat/poultry but down results for seafood. In the 52-week view, frozen seafood unit sales remained close to year-ago levels.
By type, frozen shellfish (predominantly raw and cooked shrimp) was the largest seller in May, at $413 million. But all frozen seafood items – finfish and shellfish – declined year-on-year.
Top frozen species
Shrimp are the frozen seafood powerhouse, with sales of $3.9 billion over the past year. April was an exception to an otherwise strong year for frozen salmon. While down in dollars in April, the 52-week view registers both dollar and pound growth.
