Fish fingers are back in vogue for British families. Photo / 123RF
Fish fingers are back in vogue for British families. Photo / 123RF
Served with chips, peas, or in a sandwich with lashings of ketchup, fish fingers were a quintessential taste of 1970s family tea time.
And now nearly 40 years later they are finally making a resurgence as one of Britain's most popular foods.
A report by The Grocer magazine, based on the largest five supermarket's sales data, said processed fish, including fish fingers and breaded fish fillets, was one of the food types rising fastest in popularity.
Supermarkets sold more than £30m ($54m) more prepared fish than last year, a rise of 5.9 per cent the report, which was based on Nielsen data, found.
Fish manufacturers said they had seen growth of up to 3 per cent on last year for fish fingers.
In a bid to appeal to nostalgic customers a number of restaurant chains, such as Bill's cafe, are serving gourmet fish finger sandwiches as part of their menu offerings.
Bacon sales have dropped since bacon and processed meat were put in the same category as cigarettes for causing cancer. Photo / 123RF
It comes as traditional fish and chip suppers are declining in popularity at pubs and restaurant chains, according to Horizons, a consumer analyst.
According to Birdseye, which makes fish fingers, they are the UK's second most popular sandwich filling, contributing to 18 fish fingers being eaten every second across the United Kingdom.
A spokesman said: "As consumers are spending less time in the kitchen cooking, frozen and prepared fish is more frequently a go-to dinner option, with shoppers finding these products suit their stop-go lives more easily and delivers variety, taste, freshness, nutritional benefits and offers low supply chain and in-home wastage."
The Grocer report said: "Viewed as a healthy source of protein by those concerned by saturated fat levels, prepared products such as breaded fillets have delivered the most to a category in rude health."
The rise of prepared fish comes as fresh meat sales have taken a dive with sales falling by £327.8m ($584m), or 11 per cent in this year alone.
Much of the drop was caused by declining bacon sales after health experts at the World Health Organisation put processed meat like ham and sausages in the same cancer risk category as cigarettes.
The Grocer report said: "With more and more Brits cutting down on meat and the backlash against bacon and sausages in full swing after a report by the WHO which found that some prepared meats are carcinogens, fish is flying."
On the list of fastest rising items were also cheap cigarettes, avocados, Budweiser beer and Pepsi.
According to the report a hike in tobacco duty had prompted smokers to choose cheaper brands of cigarette like B&H Blue, which had seen a big rise in sales this year. And the well-documented rise of avocado as the "must have" vegetable of 2016 had helped fresh fruit and vegetables become on of the fastest rising categories, with avocado sales up by a third, it said.
It attributed Pepsi's relative success to "keen" pricing as a litre now sells for an average of 50c less than Coke.
