Alaska is preferred 2-to-1 over other seafood origins; sustainability is a key factor.
With the younger generations leading the way, increasing seafood consumption is now more desirable than any other protein. That’s according to global seafood marketer Tradex based on national surveys.
According to Datassential, a national leader in food and beverage market research and intelligence, seafood is even more appealing than the plant-based trend.
Trends at the foodservice level show that consumers are eating more seafood away-from-home than two years ago. Their top three reasons for doing so are they believe it is healthier than meats like beef or pork, just as filling as meat, and they like the taste.
Also, foodservice seafood consumption in the College, University, and Workplace segments are almost as high as Casual and Fine Dining. To the contrary, Quick Service Restaurants and Fast Casual appear to be under servicing those segments.
The data show that only 42 percent of diners are satisfied with seafood menu offerings at Quick Service Restaurants. Tradex said that means a major opportunity exists to add more seafood to fast food menus – especially with the popularity of food delivery apps.
Sustainable Seafood continues to be a major trend with consumers. More also want to know the origin of their seafood and if it’s Wild-Caught.
In fact, 59 percent of consumers interviewed prefer Wild-Caught seafood as they perceive it to taste better and to be more natural.
According to Datassential, Alaska is the most appealing origin for seafood at foodservice and is preferred 2-to-1 over other seafood origins.
The Top 5 consumer associations with seafood from Alaska are Fresh, Great Taste, Healthy, Wild, and Product of the U.S.
Tradex noted that it recently launched a “Caught in America, Processed in America, Sold in America” sustainable line of seafood products under SINBAD Brands.
