Warnings of fish price rises came to fruition this week as dearer products filtered through to stores. Birds Eye and Young's warned of higher prices last year but Birds Eye has been first off the mark to raise them ­ up 3%-10% across its frozen range from January 14. The company said the rise was its first since 1998 and was because the demand for white fish and limited supplies had pushed up prices across the sector. Birds Eye said fish prices would continue to rise in line with market conditions and that retailers may decide to increase prices on certain lines to reflect this. Increases include 8p-9p on 10-packs of Birds Eye cod fish fingers in Sainsbury and Tesco, recorded in The Grocer 33 weekly shop this week (see p29). As part of Birds Eye's pledge to only use fish from sustainable sources by 2005, it will reduce its cod orders in the future to help ensure prices remain stable. A new product ­ six hoki steaks ­ has just been launched to replace the six cod steaks product. Young's head of marketing James Turton said: "The expected escalation of raw material costs is the inevitable outcome of buoyant demand and rigorous quota regimes put in place to protect the long-term future of fisheries. We are in the process of adjusting our retail pricing." {{NEWS }}

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