« October 2008 Table of Contents 
Retail Report: Scallops backbone of retail mollusk category
Weekly scallop sales increase 8 percent over 2007
October 01, 2008
Whether "wet" (treated with a preservative) or "dry"
(untreated), U.S. retail scallop sales are slowly
increasing.
Within the mollusks category, scallops represented 3 percent
of seafood department sales nationwide during the 52 weeks
ending June 28 and accounted for approximately 60 percent of
dollar share, the largest in the category.
Nationally, weekly scallop sales averaged $164 per store for
the 52 weeks ending June 28, up 8.4 percent from the same
period the previous year.
Like with most shellfish sales, December is the peak season
for scallop sales. Coinciding with New Year's Eve, the week of
Dec. 29, 2007, registered the highest weekly scallop sales
nationwide at $278 per store, up nearly 30 percent from the
previous year. Scallop sales bottomed out from late September
to early December. For the week of Dec. 1, 2007, average weekly
sales reached an annual low of $111 per store, up 3.9 percent
from the previous year.
The Eastern region, the primary source of the United States'
scallop harvest, had the highest weekly sales at $389 per
store, up 2.7 percent from the previous year. The East also
contributed 4.5 percent to total seafood dollar share. The
South and West regions both contributed 2.5 percent to total
seafood dollar share; the South had $122, and the West region
had $117 in weekly sales per store. The Central region had the
lowest weekly sales at $108 per store and contributed 2 percent
to total seafood dollar share.
Heavy scallop sales coincide with holidays such as New
Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. Reflecting the national trend,
the East and South had the highest weekly scallop sales the
week of Dec. 29, 2007, with $809 and $171 per store,
respectively. The week of Feb. 16 had the highest weekly
scallop sales for the Central region at $183 per store, while
the week of Sept. 8, 2007, had the highest weekly scallops
sales for the West at $193. During the same weeks, compared to
the previous year, the Central, East and South regions' sales
were up 48.2 percent, 39.7 percent and 22 percent,
respectively. Sales in the West were down 51.8 percent compared
to the previous year.
Weekly scallop sales per store increased in all regions
compared to the previous year. Contribution to total seafood
dollar sales increased in all regions but the East, which
remained flat at 4.5 percent. The South reported the biggest
increase at 16.7 percent in scallops' weekly sales per store,
while the East reported the lowest increase at 2.7 percent.