What place does the “Fish” category occupy on the Russian market today and what is hindering the growth of its consumption? Why do buyers love fish and what are they embarrassed to admit? What do fish products actually compete with and how to promote them? This and much more was discussed by the experts of the latest issue of MEDIA MIX Talks — Maria Istomina, Head of Research and Marketing at SberMarketing, and Leonid Ardalionov, Analytics Director at NTech.

There is interest in fishMarketing of fish products

In 2023-2024, analysts from SberMarketing, Vostokgosplan, Rambler&Co and NTech conducted a joint study to examine the interest of consumer market participants in the fish products category. Data collection took place in four stages. The first stage included diary studies and 26 in-depth Marketing of fish products  interviews in eight regions of the Russian Federation, where respondents were asked about their choice of fish and purchasing factors. The second stage included 1806 online interviews with residents of cities with a population of 100,000 or more. The third stage was devoted to studying advertising communications. The final stage was modeling forecasts for fish sales and consumption, as well as factors influencing the category.

According to the results, 96% of Russians eat fish at least once a year, 89% – once a month, 38% – weekly. At the same time, 51% of respondents said that they buy fish several times a month, and 63% are ready to consume fish even more often. Canned fish ranks first in terms of consumption, frozen fish ranks second, and crab sticks rank third. At the same time, the most desired product for most respondents is chilled fish, since its quality is easy to assess visually before purchase.

Main drivers and barriers to fish consumption in Russia

During the study, experts found out that 88% of buyers choose fish products for their taste, and 79% for their health benefits. Maria Istomina noted an increase in the number of points of sale, among which the leading position is occupied by convenience stores, followed by e-commerce stores, but their share does not exceed 5%. Chain lesotho business email list stores are in third place. According to the expert, chilled, frozen, salted and smoked fish could be the drivers of category growth. These are the largest categories in terms of sales shares in chain stores. 55% of consumers agree to buy fish that needs to be cooked, and 48% are interested in ready-made fish dishes. Among the barriers to consumption, experts named issues of logistics and availability of chilled products, difficulties in choosing and preparing frozen fish, lack of high-quality and tasty goods, a large amount of ice and a high price.

How to influence sales dynamics in the fish category

The guests of the episode agreed that the category lacks marketing communications. Fish promotion for the period

2020-2024 was five times inferior to meat. In the advertising they broadcast, retailers mainly rely on discounts rather

than taste, and make almost no attempt to interest all of those things should be part of your initial plan customers with exciting cooking methods and appetizing

visualizations. There is often no emotional reward for purchasing and cooking, as is the case in meat advertising, when

a hypothetical housewife receives praise for a wonderful dinner for the whole family. Consumers need more

information about the origin of the product, cooking options, its benefits and advantages over other products, since the

buyer makes a choice not only between meat or fish.

Leonid Ardalionov emphasized that in today’sMarketing of fish products

reality, the fish category competes with a much wider range of goods, which includes almost all food products. In order

to increase sales, fish counters must be noticeable, functional and informative. For example, 24% of respondents in the

study described above said that they would increase respondents also expect to see recipes for cooking the fish sold

near the display case or on the packaging. phone database their consumption of fish products if the fish were better

labeled in the display or on the packaging. It is important for buyers to know information about the place of catch,

expiration date, percentage of ice and bones, processing technology, dates of catch and freezing of fish. 13% of respondents also expect to see recipes for cooking the fish sold near the display case or on the packaging.