Sales of frozen pollock touted by chefs as a more sustainable alternative to cod have crashed over the past year as sales of cod have increased.
Volume sales of pollock have slumped 18.2% to 21.5 million kg and value sales are down 12.6% to 94.8 million [Kantar 52w/e 31 October 2010]. Sales of frozen cod have risen 13.3% in volume, to 35.6 million kg and value is up 6.8% to £194.3m.
An increase in raw material prices in the two main pollock markets Russia and Alaska had pushed prices beyond what the UK was willing to pay, said a spokesman for Cumbrian Seafoods, the biggest independent supplier of seafood to UK supermarkets. The price in Russia had increased from $1,400/t four weeks ago to $1,500/t, and headed and gutted Marine Stewardship Certified Alaskan pollock had also shot up in price.
Increased availability of pangasius a farmed fish may also have had some impact on the use of pollock by retailers as fillets looked better on-shelf compared with pollock, said Martin Jaffa, a fish consultant at the Calander McDowell consultancy.
Alaska or walleye pollock is listed with a 'fish to eat next best choices' rating in the Marine Conservation Society's Pocket Good Fish Guide. A smaller relative of the cod, pollock has a soft, white meat and is the most important groundfish species in world fisheries, according to the MSC.
The vast majority of pollock in the UK is sold frozen, and pollock is the fourth-biggest species by volume in the UK frozen fish market.
Volume sales of pollock have slumped 18.2% to 21.5 million kg and value sales are down 12.6% to 94.8 million [Kantar 52w/e 31 October 2010]. Sales of frozen cod have risen 13.3% in volume, to 35.6 million kg and value is up 6.8% to £194.3m.
An increase in raw material prices in the two main pollock markets Russia and Alaska had pushed prices beyond what the UK was willing to pay, said a spokesman for Cumbrian Seafoods, the biggest independent supplier of seafood to UK supermarkets. The price in Russia had increased from $1,400/t four weeks ago to $1,500/t, and headed and gutted Marine Stewardship Certified Alaskan pollock had also shot up in price.
Increased availability of pangasius a farmed fish may also have had some impact on the use of pollock by retailers as fillets looked better on-shelf compared with pollock, said Martin Jaffa, a fish consultant at the Calander McDowell consultancy.
Alaska or walleye pollock is listed with a 'fish to eat next best choices' rating in the Marine Conservation Society's Pocket Good Fish Guide. A smaller relative of the cod, pollock has a soft, white meat and is the most important groundfish species in world fisheries, according to the MSC.
The vast majority of pollock in the UK is sold frozen, and pollock is the fourth-biggest species by volume in the UK frozen fish market.
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