What's the catch?

With the seafood we currently eat expected to run out in 2048, many processors are branching out into new species.

"Years ago you wouldn't see 50% of what goes on the wet-fish counter now," says Bob Fleming, technical director at chilled processor The Big Prawn Company. With the UK seafood market currently worth £2.2bn (an increase of 6% on last year) and frozen sales remaining flat, an annual growth of 8% in chilled means the firm is on to something.

"Tiger prawns have seen annual sales growth of 28% and crayfish has come from nowhere in the last seven years, to be on everyone's sandwich list." He claims that the company's crayfish processing is a year ahead of its competitors', and says the business is gearing up for the onslaught of avian flu. "There have been a lot of issues surrounding poultry. We've positioned ourselves to replace chicken sandwiches with shellfish," he says.

The firm has also been targeting the snack market. "We recently launched our Breakers range, which is an eat-on-the-go twin pack containing seafood and dipping sauce. Many people have tried to put sauce and fish together [instead of in separate containers], but sauce is very acidic with a pH of 4.5 or less, so it doesn't work."

Having proved itself to be a winning combination, the company is now considering using the Breakers concept to corner the children's market. "We're looking at the Breakers range potential for kids, but we need to work on the mechanics first. There's a nervousness about targeting one sector."

Grace O'Sullivan, UK market advisor for BIM (the Irish Sea Fisheries Board) is very supportive of new seafood products for kids. "We need to move on from the fishfinger," she says. "If kids are introduced to fish at a young age then they'll take it on board. If you only feed kids fishfingers, then they won't accept other fish formats."

Ditch the disguise

Karen Galloway, marketing manager at cross-industry body Seafish, adds that the use of breadcrumb coatings may work against seafood manufacturers. "Having products that disguise what we're eating isn't necessarily the way to go," she says.

"Obviously the seafood market has many breaded and battered products - they have their role. But you don't want all your eggs in one basket, as data shows that heavily processed fish is suffering."

A move towards healthier eating has seen a decline in battered and breaded chilled offerings with spending down 7% and 4% respectively. "The way the product looks is very important to consumers, more so in seafood than in other categories," she adds.

Young's Seafood has been doing a lot of research on children's new product development (NPD). "Fishfingers do a really good job - they're wholesome, good value and relatively healthy," says the firm's NPD manager Guy Miller.

"Kids don't want to see the fish, as they're very hands on with food. Five to 10-year-olds eat with their hands and fish without a coating is not what they're used to," he says. "Fish with sauce is a bit too much like adult food and parents aren't going to spend half an hour cooking fish only to find out their kids don't like it."

However, in the future, the company is looking to launch an non-breaded range. "We've got the ideas, but we need to find a way of making them in a larger kitchen," says Miller. Parents need five or six things in the freezer that they can mix and match with different accompaniments, he says. But this could be challenging in a market where value packs are rife, because people will have to make a conscious decision to spend more, he says.

"The products are going to look different, but people shop quite mechanically in the frozen sector and don't peruse, so we need good communication tools."

Ingredients manufacturer Macphie also feels there is work to be done in the frozen arena. "Frozen is a real Cinderella area," says the firm's marketing manager Liz Taylor. "If you look at the frozen section in a supermarket, what you're not seeing is adventurous style." But, she suggests, someone like Martin Glenn, who left Pepsico to become the new chief executive of Iglo Birdseye Frozen Foods, wouldn't be moving into the sector if it was hopeless.

A change of coat

"While chilled is interesting, sexy and cutting edge, in frozen we are seeing more traditional mornay and cheese sauces. We're looking to push the boundaries - there's no reason why salsa-based and tomato sauces shouldn't be in frozen," says Taylor.

Foodservice supplier Seafood Flavours is also keen to experiment, using different coatings. "There's a scampi shortage at the moment - it's pricing itself out of the market, so people are looking to switch to warm water prawns," says director Mark Eland. "The texture [of the prawns] is firmer, but you can add flavours to coatings." He explains that the coating application method is crucial to the product's structure. "In competitors' products, the outer layer can fall off if the product has only been dipped in the coating. We spray coating onto prawns in layers to give it stability."

Miller also believes that coatings offer a range of development options: "With coatings, the world is your oyster," he says. He has considered enriching breadcrumb coatings with omega-3, but draws the line at manipulating the fish itself. "Omega-3 enrichment is 'in the mix' - but the fish itself doesn't need anything added to it. We're not going to be like the cornflake people, where consumers end up eating hidden sugar."

Oily fish is a natural source of omega-3, but cooking mackerel at home can leave an unpleasant smell in the kitchen, claims Dr Ivan Coulter, md at Ireland-based Origin Seafood. By pre-preparing and pre-marinating its mackerel products, the firm aims to simplify the cooking process for the consumer. "This reduces odours and offers a longer shelf-life," he says. The range is packed in dual-oven trays for maximum convenience, allowing consumers to cook the fish in a microwave in two minutes, or an oven for 12.

The company is currently taking part in a project with BIM and food marketing consultancy Levercliff Associates to develop sales in the UK retail market. BIM hopes that mapping the market and identifying specific opportunities within targeted retail chains will help Irish processors to target new business.

The group has already spotted a gap in the market for a new species. "Megrim is very popular in the Spanish market where it is eaten to celebrate special family events," says O'Sullivan. "It's never caught on in the UK - maybe because of its name," she notes. Similarly, a fish called Witch can be used as a lemon sole replacement, but because the name isn't overly appealing, it's being sold in Marks & Spencer as Torbay sole, after the area it comes from, she explains.

"We're looking to rename Megrim after the Rockall fishing area in order to increase its popularity, but you need a lot of money to do this," she adds.

Mark Burnell, NPD manager at ready meal producer Jugg Foods agrees that the name of a product is instrumental to its success. Names are key for flowering up a menu, but restaurants aren't going to buy new products when customers haven't got a clue what they are, he says. "I'd love there to be more fish out there, but we're not used to using weird and wonderful things - people aren't ready for it yet.

"You don't see red snapper in the pub," he says. "I'd love to do things like that, but pub groups want consistency."

Preparing for change

Miller also feels that getting consumers used to new products is a slow progression and advises manufacturers to tread carefully. "Everyone wants something different until you give it to them. People need to relate to the change - it has to be gradual.

"Normally, you get a lot of new ideas from restaurants," he says. "There's more flexibility there because it's an occasion and people will try something more exotic to get a new experience. Then, once people are used to the product, it's an easier route for manufacturers."

However, sustainability issues mean that new species are now being driven into restaurants by retailers, says Miller. "We've looked at introducing Alaskan sablefish, also known as black cod, into different markets and catering looks promising. It's very different to cod - it's flaky, incredibly rich and has a clean oil taste.

Although Miller admits "it's not going to be an overnight hit", he believes that sustainability awareness will help people to accept new products. "Press coverage has become much more pointed, and sometimes overplayed, but a steady flow of messages means that people will make conscious choices."

He is certain that lesser-known species can eventually gain the coveted shelf-space. "All species can get to that level so long as they have sufficient exposure to consumers. There are 20,000 species of fish so there's plenty to choose from." FM