The top five ways to sell more fish on your menu

Consumers in the UK focus their seafood consumption on five main species: salmon, tuna, cod, haddock and prawns. Yet on any one day it is estimated that there is in excess of 100 different species of fish and shellfish available to purchase in the UK. Here's how you can sell more…

1 Feature one or two additional species on your menu, perhaps on a rolling weekly basis, to keep the menu fresh. Offer free bite-size samples of different species to encourage customers to try something new, or a lesser-known ‘species of the week' at a promotional price.

2 Hake is a fish that many consumers realise they like when they've had the opportunity to taste it. Blind taste sampling tests among consumers with cod, haddock, hake, coley, and so on often throws up hake as being the tastiest of the lot.

3 Equip serving staff with outline product knowledge of various seafood species to help educate customers and persuade them to choose a seafood option on the menu.

4 Use simple written explanations on a menu or point-of-sale materials, explaining the provenance of seafood or comparing tastes and textures of different seafood.

5 A value-for-money species for the catering sector is mackerel. Often regarded by seafood aficionados as one of the tastiest fish, mackerel lends itself to simple preparation, perhaps pan-fried or grilled and served with lightly boiled new potatoes and an accompanying leafy salad.

Source: Andy Gray, trade marketing manager at Seafish

This information was taken from The Caterer's Breakfast Briefing in association with Seafish at the Dorchester Hotel in March.