Shoppers are keen to buy fish that comes from the area they live in, but otherwise origin is not high on their agenda.
Seafish and Seafood Scotland interviewed 1,000 shoppers across the UK to find out just how much the origin of seafood mattered to them.
Overall shoppers said they did not tend to check where the seafood they purchased was from and more than half - 57% - said they never checked.
Twenty five per cent said they sometimes checked region of origin and 18% said they always checked it.
In a similar study five years ago, only 11% of shoppers said they always checked where their seafood was from.
Scottish consumers were especially keen to buy seafood from Scottish waters.
This demand for local seafood was not found in any other regions of the UK.
However, almost 20% of shoppers said they would be willing to pay a little more for seafood from particular regions of the UK.
The most important factor for consumers when choosing seafood was that it should be something the family would both eat and like.
This was followed closely by the look of the seafood for 90% of respondents, price (66%) and branding, important to 46% of consumers. Less than 40% said origin was important.
A Seafish spokesman added: “While origin was not considered important by consumers, traceability continues to be an issue in both retail and foodservice.
“While demand at this stage may not be consumer driven, there is an increasing trend across retailers to highlight the origin for traceability and food safety reasons.”
Seafish and Seafood Scotland interviewed 1,000 shoppers across the UK to find out just how much the origin of seafood mattered to them.
Overall shoppers said they did not tend to check where the seafood they purchased was from and more than half - 57% - said they never checked.
Twenty five per cent said they sometimes checked region of origin and 18% said they always checked it.
In a similar study five years ago, only 11% of shoppers said they always checked where their seafood was from.
Scottish consumers were especially keen to buy seafood from Scottish waters.
This demand for local seafood was not found in any other regions of the UK.
However, almost 20% of shoppers said they would be willing to pay a little more for seafood from particular regions of the UK.
The most important factor for consumers when choosing seafood was that it should be something the family would both eat and like.
This was followed closely by the look of the seafood for 90% of respondents, price (66%) and branding, important to 46% of consumers. Less than 40% said origin was important.
A Seafish spokesman added: “While origin was not considered important by consumers, traceability continues to be an issue in both retail and foodservice.
“While demand at this stage may not be consumer driven, there is an increasing trend across retailers to highlight the origin for traceability and food safety reasons.”
No comments yet