Seafish, a leading authority on seafood, has recently released its Q3 2023 Supply Chain Analysis Report, shedding light on the factors impacting UK seafood markets during this period.

Seafish’s report serves as a valuable resource for fish and chip shops as it provides insights into the challenges and opportunities that are facing the industry.

We encourage you to view the full report found here: https://www.seafish.org/document/?id=cfcd6d46-6806-43d6-ad96-38f3734fb0a5

Some of the key points we noted are:

• The UK Seafood Fund Infrastructure Scheme awarded £40.1 million across 21 projects.
• Prioritised projects aimed to strengthen the seafood supply chain, benefit businesses, and reduce environmental impact.
• Labor challenges persisted, with English language exams posing a barrier for migrant crew and requirements for fishermen to obtain medical certificates raised concerns about older fishermen retiring.
• Positive initiatives, such as apprenticeship schemes and the Future Seafood Leaders Programme, aimed to improve workforce retention.
• Inflation eased to +6.3% overall but remained high at +12.3% for food.
• Consumers sought value, favoring cheaper fish.
• While some consumers chose to dine-in, others were still motivated by socialising opportunities over the summer months with visits and seafood servings up in the foodservice sector. However, the sector performed worse than expected due to the poor weather conditions, especially during the August school holiday period.

Further to this, you may also be interested in reading the ‘Fish as Food review’ (2024 update).

This report can be found here:  https://www.seafish.org/document/?id=525029cc-a7e3-4acd-b352-da4007fb9a42