« June 2007 Table of Contents 
Retail Report: Shellfish sales up more than 8 percent
Shrimp commands almost 65 percent of retail category
June 01, 2007
Shellfish, including the most popular species, shrimp,
represents the largest category in the supermarket seafood
department, accounting for 47.6 percent of category dollar
sales during the 52 weeks ending March 31. Nationally,
shellfish, averaged $2,515 per week per store, an 8.9 percent
increase compared to the previous year.
Peak shellfish sales occur during holiday weeks as consumers
splurge on popular items such as shrimp and crab legs for
parties and other festivities. Category sales reach a high
point during Christmas week, averaging $4,897 per store. The
week before Christmas and the weeks of New Year's and Fourth of
July also reported above-average sales for the category. After
showing a slight spike during Easter week, shellfish sales
declined to an annual low of $1,900 per store during the week
of April 30, 2006.
All regions experienced an increase in average weekly dollar
sales compared to the previous year. During the 52 weeks ending
March 31, the East had the highest average weekly dollar sales
with $4,175 per store, an increase of 6.7 percent compared to
the previous year. Shellfish commanded almost half of the
department sales in the Eastern region sea-food department.
The South posted the second highest percentage of shellfish
dollar sales at 49 percent. However, the region saw the lowest
average weekly dollar sales with $2,134 per store. With
category contribution well below the national percentage at
42.9 percent, the Central region represents the greatest
opportunity for the seafood department.
Nationally, shrimp dominates shellfish sales. The
subcategory accounted for 64.6 percent of category dollar sales
during the 52 weeks ending March 31, followed by crab at 19.8
percent, lobster at 6.2 percent, scallops at 5.2 percent and
clams at 1.7 percent. With a fraction of category dollar share,
the smaller subcategories including mussels, crawfish/crayfish,
squid and octopus reported 0.5 percent, 0.4 percent, 0.3
percent and 0.1 percent of average weekly dollar sales,
respectively.
Shrimp, crabs and lobster are driving shellfish sales. All
three subcategories saw significant sales spikes during peak
sales weeks for the category, while sales of the smaller
subcategories remained unchanged.