reLAKSation 323. Callander McDowell
Window shopping: The Independent newspaper has reported that in a poll of a thousand people, nearly one third said that the shop that they would like to see return to their High Street would be a fishmongers. This has prompted a great deal of conjecture in the press as to why fish shops are top of the list and whether it is likely to happen. Over the last twenty years, about 6000 fishmongers have closed amounting to three quarters of the total. Most fresh fish is now sold through the supermarkets.
The supermarkets are the natural target for those looking to explain the demise of the independent fishmonger claiming that the pressure they have placed on the local retailers has forced many out of business. Yet, at the same time, most consumers have flocked to supermarkets to benefit from the convenience of one stop shopping. Equally, high rents, rates and running costs have been highlighted as exacerbating the problems but butchers and bakers have to shoulder this burden and yet many continue to survive on the High Street.
John Sullivan, a former president of the National Federation of Fishmongers told IntraFish that whilst one in ten of people passing a butchers shop will go in and buy meat, only one in sixty will call in a fishmongers and buy fish. This is surely the nub of the problem. There doesn’t seem to be enough demand for fresh fish to warrant the reappearance of the fishmonger on the High Street.
If this is the case, it seems odd that the public are now so keen to see the fishmongers return. The Independent suggests that in part it may reflect a renewed interest in fish stimulated by celebrity chefs, and publicity about the health benefits of fish. They also think that it may have something to do with nostalgia. We, at Callander McDowell, think that they may have a point.
Some time ago, one supermarket store in our region was due to be upgraded and asked its customers what improvements they wanted. Just as with this poll, the list of changes was topped by the inclusion of a fresh fish counter. This far outweighed anything else and as a result the store acceded to the customers request and installed a large fish counter. Not long afterwards, the large fish counter was removed and replaced with a much smaller one offering a limited range of traditional species. Whilst many customers wanted to see a fresh fish counter in store, few actually bought anything from it. In exactly the same way, we believe, that this latest poll reflects a nostalgia to see fresh fish displayed on the High Street.
However, the reality is that just because consumers want to see a display of fresh fish doesn’t mean they’ll buy it. Equally, just because they know that they should be eating two portions of oily fish doesn’t mean that they will do so.
A percentage point: SeaFish have told IntraFish that according to market research from TNS and Omnimass, around nine out of ten Britons are eating seafood. SeaFish have felt it necessary to respond to claims from the British Nutrition Foundation that the number of people eating fish has hardly increased over the last five years. The BNF have said that data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey carried out five years ago found only 27% of the population were found to be eating any fish or seafood. The BNF’s nutritionist says that she doesn’t have any reason to believe that the figure has gone up greatly since then. She added that it is still a very small proportion that like eating fish. As would be expected, SeaFish disagree. They claim that true consumption rates are nearer 90% and have shown significant growth in the last five years.
Rather surprisingly, SeaFish weren’t so keen to share this information when they launched National Seafood Week with the news that ‘Seafood consumption on the increase’ in a press release dated 5th October. Instead, they preferred to add to the confusion by quoting percentage growth figures for specific sectors. Hence consumption of oily fish has risen by 10% since 2004; the number of people eating shellfish by 8%; consumption by children under the age of 6 by 23% and that there are 11% more under 16’s eating seafood on a regular basis.
Such figures are taken out of context and are therefore totally meaningless. In our experience, data about percentage growth is used when the actual figures are not up to expectation. Surely, it would have been more newsworthy to say that 90% of Britons now eat fish than to provide a series of percentage growth figures. Perhaps SeaFish weren’t feeling too positive having to admit that only 28% of people eat fish twice a week as recommended by the Food Standards Agency.
We have already discussed this figure in reLAKSation 315 and that by the end of Seafood Week the percentage of those eating fish twice a week had risen to 66% as discovered by Noblio wines in a survey timed to coincide with the week long promotion.
Since National Seafood Week, the picture of fish consumption in the UK has become even more confused. A YouGov survey commissioned by tuna canner John West found that less than 30% of Britons are eating a portion of oily fish and most of these are older people. Only 18% of those polled aged between the ages of 18-24 were eating one portion of oily fish per week.
Only a few days later, omega 3 supplement manufacturer Efalex found that only 30% of 3,000 people polled eat the recommended intake two portions a week.
The picture that is emerging is that whilst much of the public may be eating fish or seafood, we suspect that this is usually in the form of fish and chips. Whilst this is not a problem in itself, there are still very few people eating two portions a week and even less eating one portion of omega -3 oily fish. It is difficult to really tell because these surveys can be contradictory or are swayed because of the self interest of those commissioning the research. What the industry needs is a definitive survey. How many people eat fish? How often? In what form? Where from? And so on.
Nine out of ten people may well eat fish or seafood but for all we know that could be just once a year. The truth may not be palatable but isn’t it better that we know.
Turning up their noses: That most young people are not eating even one portion of oily fish is probably not news to school dinner guru Jamie Oliver. The Daily Mail reports that school inspectors have found that take up of school diners has fallen in as many of two thirds of schools since healthy meals were introduced as part of Jamie’s school dinner initiative. They blame the introduction of healthy meals for the drop in demand for school dinners. Instead youngsters are deserting school dinners in favour of packed lunches or trips to the nearest fast food outlet. One teenager told inspectors that he was healthier because of the distance he had to walk to the local chip shop!
According to the Glasgow Herald, the City Council is considering allowing burger and chips to be served in school dining rooms to stop a further decline in the number of pupils eating school dinners. It is hoped that providing pupils with want they want on an occasional basis may encourage some to try other more healthy dishes.
The school inspectors say that schools were failing to market the healthy dinners properly and thus pupils were opting for what they know.
The same can be said about the wider population and may explain why the take up of oily fish is so poor. It is not enough to preach to consumers about the benefits of oily fish, it is about marketing in the right way. Perhaps this is a lesson not just for the school curriculum. Otherwise it won’t be just school pupils turning their nose up to the benefits of oily fish.