Young’s Seafood is aiming to bring fruits de mer out of fish restaurants and into the mainstream, with the expansion of its premium shellfish range.
New frozen King Prawns & Scallops (£5/200g) and Fruits de Mer (rsp: £5/250g) went into Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose at the end of October amid a boom in the shellfish market, with value sales up 23% [12 w/e 8 October, Kantar].
A flavoured butter sauce, featuring lemon with pink peppercorn or black garlic, accompanies each pack, which come with simple preparation instructions aimed at improving consumer confidence when cooking shellfish.
The new SKUs add to Young’s Specialty shellfish range which already includes pre-cooked Vietnamese tiger prawns (rsp: £6/180g), which can be eaten hot or cold. The tiger prawns launched in Waitrose in 2016 and now join the range on the shelves of Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Young’s market research showed two thirds of shoppers would like to see new products on the market, said a spokeswoman for the supplier, while the frozen fish market overall is in strong growth, netting an additional £17m in the three months to October.
“When consumers told us they lacked inspiration, we used our seafood heritage to develop shellfish products they can be confident in using to make dishes at home,” said Young’s head of frozen Jason Manley.
The expanded range is set to feature in Young’s latest marketing campaign across TV and digital channels aiming to encourage consumers to try “simple, versatile” fish recipes.
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