Trends for U.S. catfish and swai products in retail markets

Abstract

Farm-raised catfish is the largest U.S. aquaculture industry. Over the years, the ingenuity of catfish processors has made catfish products available all over the U.S. including globally competitive retail marketplaces. U.S catfish products face stiff competition from Vietnamese swai products in these diverse markets. This work elucidates the detailed nascent retail trends for U.S. catfish and swai products by evaluating weekly, store-based, AC Nielsen ScanTrack data from September 2016 through August 2021. The five-year analysis compares retail sales of U.S. catfish and swai products across national, regional, and city levels while providing key trends in product forms, quantities sold, promotional patterns, and price information. Results indicated an average annual growth rate of retail sales of 5.8% for U.S. catfish and 0.7% for swai. The South Central region had the greatest total retail sales for both U.S. catfish and swai products. Dallas/Fort Worth had the greatest total retail seafood sales for U.S. catfish products, followed by Chicago and St. Louis. Los Angeles was the most important city for retail swai sales. The 454-g U.S. catfish packs had a share of 77 and 68% in terms of volume and revenue while the same pack for swai had 48 and 28% volume and revenue shares. Frozen and refrigerated products dominated sales for both products in 2021. Swai products were characteristically priced lower than U.S. catfish products across all regions, cities, and study years, especially for larger packs. The study revealed the shift to increase at-home consumption of these two products during the pandemic years that have been reported for other seafood products.