The total fish market chilled and frozen combined is worth £2.1bn, up 0.8% year-on-year. As a result of an average 2.0% price increase, shoppers are purchasing less fish, less often.

The percentage of households buying fish has fallen from 96.3% to slightly over 96.0%. The natural sector dominates chilled fish, despite a fall in sales. Shoppers are purchasing chilled fish 1.7% more frequently than last year, particularly in the added value, smoked and shellfish sectors.

The frozen fish market is worth £873m, down 0.6% on last year. Price pressure continues to have an adverse affect, and there has been a drop in the percentage of households buying frozen, from 90% to slightly over 89%. While battered fillet and fish fingers dominate frozen, natural fillet and fish in sauce have delivered the highest growth.

The biggest decline in the frozen market has been in fish ready meals, which have fallen 38% by value and 42% by volume year-on-year. Waitrose has performed particularly well this year, with fish sales up 14.2% in chilled and 15.1% in frozen.

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