With the health benefits of omega-3 becoming more widely known, oily fish are regaining popularity, and. Since fish can all too easily be viewed as a commodity product, manufacturers are using innovative recipes and packaging to leverage the renewed fervour for fish, as Hugh Westbrook reports.

The tinned fish market may seem an unlikely one for high degrees of innovation, but it is currently undergoing a metamorphosis, especially in the UK. While Tuna has become established as a staple product over a number of years, its less glamorous cousins such as sardines, pilchards and mackerel have always had a loyal following, albeit among older generations. But manufacturers have now started to produce an array of value-added lines, while health messages are also being used to grow the sector as the health benefits of fish become more apparent.

The UK’s canned fish market is worth £369m (US$324.8m) a year, according to AC Nielsen, and it is increasing by 14% a year. Tuna dominates the market with a share of more than 50%, with seven out of ten people in the UK buying it. Tuna has slightly different health properties to the other fish in the sector, being regarded as a good all-round product that is high in protein and low in fat. The oily fish such as sardines and mackerel are promoted for the omega three oils, which have been associated with a wide variety of health benefits.

Snacking drives NPD

The appearance of value-added lines, which has been led by tuna, has seen products being enhanced with a variety of dressings, while innovations are being seen in packaging in a bid to appeal to consumers who want speedy meal solutions. “We are driven by knowledge of our consumers and what they want,” Jeremy Coles, General Manager UK marketing for John West, told just-food.com. “There is increased snacking and out-of-home consumption, while people have less time for lunch.”

Products such as John West’s Light Lunch, or dressed tuna packed in pouches, are now being replicated in other areas, with companies beginning to apply a similar approach to oily fish. Princes has just launched a wide range of flavoured fish products such as Portuguese sardines in spicy tomato sauce or herring in mustard and dill sauce. These products are also being tied in with the British Heart Foundation in order to promote their health benefits.

The rationale behind such lines is much the same as for the value-added tuna products, in that they appeal to a consumer who needs quick, healthy meal solutions. However, they also address an image problem. Many of these fish have tended to be consumed by an older audience, and manufacturers are keen to bring a younger audience in.

Competing for youth spend

Anji Adams, fish marketing controller for Princes, told just-food.com that “oily fish are a bit of a forgotten category – they’re something you had in your younger years but that you no longer have.” The new lines are therefore designed to reintroduce the products in a way that will appeal.

“The recipes come from looking at food trends and growth areas, things such as spicy tomato or barbecue are current and popular,” she added. “Traditional flavours such as salt or brine are not enough to tempt new people in. We looked at what people want, while packaging had to make the lines look appetising and gourmet.”

While John West does not currently carry a range of flavoured oily fish, they are still making an effort to bring more people into the category. Boneless ranges of sardines carry recipes for unusual dishes such as sardine pasta or pizza that are designed to appeal to a younger audience.

Like sardines, pilchards have also suffered from an image problem. However, there is now innovation in these lines, with Glenryck starting to sell whole fillets in more than just brine or tomato sauce, with different dressings being used and one line seeing pilchards packaged with asparagus spears.

Chief executive Tony Tunstall acknowledges the perception of pilchards but like other manufacturers he hopes that the new lines will increase the consumer base. “We’re trying to get younger people in,” he told just-food.com. “The new products are easier to open, they look good and they taste good. Consumers now want convenience and value-added products.”

While there is a degree of accord among manufacturers as to the market drivers, there is one surprising controversy. Tuna has been available in a pouch since early last year, but both Princes and John West claim to have been first to the market. Whoever won the race, Princes’ Ms Adams explained the reasoning behind the creation of such packaging. “We were looking at food trends, soup was being packaged in a ready-to-go pouch format, therefore we concluded that was needed.”

Fresh dominates on mainland Europe

The situation in the UK is not necessarily mirrored elsewhere. Remmelt Jongknid, marketing manager for Princes in the Netherlands, told just-food.com that while health messages were known about in continental Europe, they were less relevant as sales tools for the canned fish market, while value-added products are a lot less common.

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“In the Netherlands and Belgium the consumer is more interested in fresh food, while there is not as much supermarket space as in the UK so there is less choice. In Germany, supermarkets have the fresh section and then the meat so people don’t look towards fish for their meal. Tuna is more of a staple, something that goes in salads. In France there is more value-added because that is where a lot of them originated.”

Interestingly, one country where value-added products are successful is Austria, where the Vier Diamenten range offers a variety of added-value tuna products. However, while an interest in such products is partly behind the success, Jongkind also pointed out a more prosaic reason: “They don’t have much fish there because they are land-locked, so canned fish serves their need.”

One possible threat in the future to the UK producers comes from Canadian group Connor Bros, whose Brunswick sardines have recently arrived in the UK. Again, these are produced in a variety of flavours. However, their entry has been low-key so far, with many in the market not yet aware of their arrival, while the company declined the invitation to speak to just-food.com for this feature.

The tinned fish category is growing all the time, with increasing innovation one of the main drivers. Tuna has certainly been exploited in this way recently, it will now be interesting to see whether similar initiatives will result in oily fish claiming a more prominent place in people’s shopping baskets.

By Hugh Westbrook, just-food.com correspondent