Industry rallies to fund Seafood Fortnight
A record-breaking number of seafood processors applied to industry body seafish for funding to support this year’s Seafood Fortnight, resulting in the total sum of grants awarded increasing to £100,000.
Of the 24 processing applicants, 12 including - The Seafood Company, Cumbrian Seafoods, New England Seafood, Falmouth Fishselling and Coldwater Seafood UK, received grants.
Chris Stevens, commercial manager at Seafish was blown away by the number of processors wishing to get involved. “It’s encouraging to see so many processors getting behind Seafood Fortnight,” he said. “We were particularly impressed by the processors collaborating together to maximise the impact of the ‘2 [portions] a week’ message in the multiple grocer sector.
“Activity suggested by the processors varies from point of sale posters and gondola ends to raise awareness of the seafood offering in supermarkets, to competitions among retailer staff to create recipes and ideas to encourage customers to eat ‘2 a week’.”
Cumbrian Seafoods, which supplies Tesco, Asda and Morrison is planning a major point of sale campaign with posters and floor stickers. Iain Lowrie, the firm’s category development manager, said: “Seafood Fortnight is an ideal time for us to support the retailers in boosting seafood sales. The ‘2 a week’ theme is an important health message for consumers and our activities will help drive the category and raise awareness of some of the fabulous seafood products available.”
Seafood Fortnight runs from September 5-21 2008 and will encourage people to eat the recommended two portions of seafood a week, drawing attention to the huge variety of different species available. Consumers will also be reminded of the importance of buying from sustainable sources.
