Half of UK consumers want to eat more seafood, says Seafish

Public body Seafish has conducted ‘state of the nation’ research into seafood consumption in the UK.

The findings reveal that only one-third of respondents follow NHS public health recommendation to eat two portions of fish a week. However, 55% would like to eat more seafood.

The research also uncovered some key consumer attitudes and preferences around seafood, with findings showing that 70% of the fish-buying public think that sustainability is important, and that telling consumers about the health benefits of fish would encourage 70% of them to eat more.

Greg Smith, head of marketing at Seafish, said: “The State of the Nation project contains some of our most important research to date, helping us better understand UK consumers.

“We know there’s still work to be done to get people eating more seafood, especially as two-thirds of consumers aren’t following government health guidelines and eating two portions of fish a week, but it’s really encouraging to see that more than half of consumers want to eat more.

“This work provides valuable insight into what really makes consumers tick when it comes to eating seafood and can be used by the industry to inform ongoing initiatives, which help positively impact consumption across the supply chain.”

The research was conducted by YouGov in April 2018 and involved a survey of 2,047 adults representative of the UK population.

The report can be downloaded here