SEAFOOD IS PREFERRED CHOICE OF US CONSUMERS LOOKING TO EAT LESS MEAT

Seafood is preferred choice of US consumers looking to eat less meat, as eco-labels guide purchasing decisions. Seafood is the preferred choice of US consumers looking to eat less meat, and seafood eco-labels such as the Global Seafood Alliance’s (GSA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) are influencing the perceptions of the seafood that they purchase and the supermarkets and restaurants that they frequent. That’s according to new research targeting 3,000 US adult consumers and 400 purchasing decision makers in foodservice, conducted by Changing Tastes and administered by GSA earlier this year.

The research sheds new light on US consumers’ shifting protein-consumption behaviours. Almost one-third of US consumers are ‘substantially’ interested in eating less meat, including beef, pork and lamb. Of those roughly 1,000 US consumers, the largest percentage (39%) are looking to substitute meat with seafood.

With US consumers looking to seafood most often as a meat substitute, eco-labels that promote responsible seafood production are more often influencing US consumers to choose one product over another or one brand over another.

With US consumers looking to seafood most often as a meat substitute, eco-labels that promote responsible seafood production are more often influencing US consumers to choose one product over another or one brand over another.

According to the research, 46% of US consumers have favourable views of retail channels that display the BAP label, while 64% of consumers would choose products with the BAP label over other proteins. Among operators in foodservice, 56% of operators have favourable views of distributors that use the BAP label.

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