COVID-19 brought most of the seafood dining to a temporary halt. However, after an initial decline, consumers saw seafood sales surge again during recovery as shoppers embraced the benefits of seafood entrees made at home.
In 2023, home-cooked seafood contributed to more than 53% of total seafood consumption in the U.S., rising to 59% in 2024. Among this increased consumption, value-added seafood, such as case-ready and prepared seafood meals, are leading the way, appealing to, and aligning with consumers’ values.
Yet, do the benefits of value-added seafood justify such a dramatic shift in spending and adoption from restaurant to retail in just five years? What drives consumers to opt for case-ready, prepared seafood now that the Pandemic tide has receded?
The short answer is that case-ready and prepared meal formats appeal to three KEY elements consumers consider most for their seafood: quality, cost, and convenience.
According to the Food Industry Association’s Power of Seafood 2023 report, more than 60% of shoppers cite product quality as their top concern, followed by taste and flavor (55%+), and total price and price per pound (42%+), followed by preparation time and ease, and nutritional benefits.
Case-ready, value-added seafood is here to stay.
WHAT MAKES VALUE-ADDED SEAFOOD ATTRACTIVE?
Consumers see elements such as quality, price, nutrition, and sustainability as a must for seafood. However, an element of price, while not commonly discussed, has proven to be enormously important and favored among shoppers: fixed weight.
Value-added seafood products like case-ready and prepared meals are typically packaged at a fixed weight, unlike fresh seafood from the counter, where human personnel handle weighing, allowing for slight variations in weight.
Why does this matter?
Fixed-weight packaging removes the guesswork in price per pound, making it easier for consumers to manage portion sizes, stay within budget, and even compare products more accurately in real-time. When you add other top priorities—preserving quality and retaining taste and flavor—it becomes clear why value-added seafood drives demand.
Additionally, these benefits aren’t confined to consumers. Retailers also prefer fixed-weight, pre-packaged, value-added seafood products, as they optimize retail presentation (freshness and sustainability information), help with inventory control (extending shelf life and reducing product waste) and reduce in-house labor expenses.
MAKING THE CASE FOR CASE-READY SEAFOOD
Wait, isn’t fresh the gold standard in seafood? Shouldn’t it be caught, delivered fresh, prepared, and served on the same day?
Hardly.
In most cases, “fresh” seafood is immediately iced to prevent spoilage and extend shelf life. It is often packaged at sea, frozen, and shipped nationwide for store delivery.
Today’s modern processing and packaging innovation makes a stronger case for a new definition of “fresh” – for fixed-weight, value-added, case-ready seafood, as shown by meat and poultry.
WAIT, WHAT IS CASE-READY SEAFOOD?
Consumer preference for modern fixed-weight, case-ready seafood is inextricably tied to the characteristics that define “what” case ready means.
According to Seafood Source, case-ready seafood is seafood that’s been processed, packaged, and labeled before it is sold to eager seafood consumers. It shares various vital characteristics in its definition, including:
- Pre-Portioned and Packaged (Vacuum Sealing, Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), Trays, Etc.)
- Pre-Seasoned and Ready-To-Cook
- Transparent Labeling
- Extended Freshness
- Retail Ready
These attributes work perfectly in tandem to align and appeal to modern consumers on several key fronts, including convenience (reducing prep time), value (portion sizes & quality), mindfulness (reduced waste, renewable materials, sustainability), and variety (new culinary experiences).
SEAFOOD: READY. SET. RETAIL. RIGHT?
Fixed-weight, case-ready seafood is not new, per se. It has been available and risen in prominence in the market over the last decade and continues to make strides with a new generation of consumers.
However, its resurgence and rise in retail popularity create new challenges for processors and full-scale retail adoption.
Natural variability in size and shape, and yield makes management more complex. Fresh “sticky and tricky” seafood can be inconsistent in size and weight, creating operational efficiencies with manual packaging. There are also labeling and regulatory compliance requirements and accurate weight declarations which must be met before the product hits retail shelves.
Traditionally, manual-intensive packaging processes are notoriously inefficient and costly in terms of labor and product giveaway. Modern sources estimate that up to 5-6% of annual yield is given away to consumers, creating millions of dollars in lost revenue for producers and elevated costs for retailers, which are ultimately passed back onto shoppers.
SOLVING FOR FIXED-WEIGHT SEAFOOD: AUTOMATED WEIGHERS STEP IN
So how can producers make popular, fixed-weight, case-ready seafood profitable as possible without the loss?
Enter advanced automated multihead weighers.
Developed by global processing leaders like Cabinplant, multihead weighers are precision weighing, loading, and distribution technologies that promise the highest accuracy and profitability.
Automated multi-head weighing (MHW) systems ensure precise fixed-weight portioning, minimizing material and product waste and increasing production efficiency — all while meeting retailer demands for a diverse selection of consistently high-quality, case-ready seafood products.
MHW solutions significantly reduce product giveaway from as high as 6% to less than 1-2% through precise portioning, preventing millions in lost revenue annually. Automating the process and integrating MHW into your existing packaging production also reduces reliance on manual labor, boosting efficiency across every cycle and cutting labor costs by up to 70%.
RESPONDING TO THE RISING TIDE OF CASE-READY SEAFOOD
As fixed-weight, case-ready seafood continues to claim long-term shelf space for consumers across retail markets; it is imperative to have a viable strategy to tap into its precision, earning power, and profitability.
Customized automated multihead weighing systems have emerged from a sea of innovations to seamlessly integrate with your advanced, existing packaging production and create profitable solutions tailored to even the most demanding seafood production.
By harnessing the combined power of these customized, automated processing and packaging solutions, you can design and future-proof a case-ready seafood production that minimizes human error and meets your customers’ unique needs.
Talk to the experts at Harpak-ULMA today and let us help you maximize efficiency, profitability, and long-term success by creating a case-ready seafood production that’s right for you.
