« May 2007 Table of Contents 
Retail Report: Fresh finfish sales increase 7.5 percent
Retail finfish growth mirrors overall department growth
May 01, 2007
Finfish species such as salmon, tilapia and catfish are the
backbone of any retail seafood department. The second largest
retail category behind shellfish, finfish accounted for 33.5
percent of category dollar sales during the 52 weeks between
January 2006 and January 2007.
Nationally, the category averaged $1,734 per week per store,
a 7.5 percent
increase from the previous year. However,
because category growth mirrored total department growth, which
saw a 7.4 percent increase compared to the previous year,
finfish's contribution to the overall seafood department
remained the same.
The category saw above-average sales throughout the month of
March and into the first half of April. Dollar sales peaked
during the week of March 4 with $2,139 average weekly sales per
week per store. This sales spike coincides with the Lenten
season.
Finfish sales had the lowest average weekly dollar sales
performance during the fourth quarter holiday months. Average
weekly dollar sales hit a low of $1,323 per week per store
during the week of Dec. 2, 2006.
All regions experienced an increase in average weekly dollar
sales compared to the previous year. The East had the highest
average weekly dollar sales with $2,771 per week per store,
well above national dollar sales. The Central region showed the
highest category contribution to the seafood department, with
35.8 percent of sales, followed closely by the West region at
35.6 percent.
The South presents the greatest opportunity for the finfish
category, reporting the lowest average weekly dollar sales with
$1,357 per week per store. The region also saw the lowest
category contribution percentage, accounting for 31.9 percent
of overall department sales.
Nationally, salmon accounted for 36.3 percent of finfish
sales during the 52 weeks, followed by tilapia at 13.6 percent,
catfish at 10.8 percent and the "other fresh fish" subcategory
at 9.8 percent (The top items in this subcategory are
herring,
grouper, mahimahi, ono/wahoo, opah/moonfish, pollock, sole and
rockfish).
With a fraction of category dollar share, the smaller
subcategories, including cod/scrod, haddock, tuna, flounder,
swordfish and halibut, reported 5.4 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.4
percent, 3.3 percent, 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent of average
weekly dollar sales, respectively. Collectively, whiting,
roughy, trout, snapper and perch accounted for 8.2 percent of
average weekly dollar sales.