Sainsbury’s encourages shoppers to widen their net with 'Switch the Fish'

Sainsbury’s encourages shoppers to widen their net with 'Switch the Fish'

09 June 2015

On Friday 12th June 2015, Sainsbury’s is set to give away nearly 5 tonnes of lesser known fish including coley and hake to encourage customers to try alternative species.

  • Sainsbury’s is set to give away nearly 5 tonnes of lesser known fish on ‘Switch the Fish Day’ (12th June 2015)
  • Research reveals nearly 50% of people can’t differentiate between salmon and loch trout
  • Study also showed nearly 40% couldn’t pick-out coley from cod

80% of UK fish sales are made up of only five types of fish (cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns), so when a customer asks for one of these ‘Big Five’ species at one of our in-store fish counters they will be offered a portion of one of the four alternative varieties (coley, hake, sea bass and loch trout) for free.

The Switch the Fish campaign launches alongside new research from Sainsbury’s, which was carried out at Leatherhead Food Research using panels of fish consumers.  Two separate experiments were set to find out whether consumers could tell the difference between salmon and loch trout and between cod and coley, when they were given the fish products to eat.

When given salmon and loch trout to taste, nearly 50% of people either mistook trout for salmon or could not decide which was which* and when asked to tell the difference between cod and coley, nearly 40% couldn’t pick-out which was the cod. **

Now in its fourth year, the campaign is set to build on the success of previous Switch the Fish days which saw sales of alternative fish rise by 56% across fish counters.

Ally Dingwall, Sainsbury’s fish expert, who has over 25 years of experience working in the UK seafood industry says: “Our research shows that there are plenty more fish than the popular salmon and cod that customers would enjoy if they had the confidence to try something new.  Switch the Fish Day is a great opportunity for shoppers to try some alternative fish for free, but all four of our alternatives will be on offer for three weeks from 10th June to help change the nation’s fish eating habits by encouraging the consumption of more sustainable species.”

You can find out more about Switch the Fish here: www.sainsburys.co.uk/switchthefish.

Deals Available:

Deals Available

10th June – 23rd June:

  • Fresh Coley fillet - £6.00 p/kg (usually £8.00 p/kg)
  • Cornish Hake side fillet - £8.00 p/kg (usually £10.00 p/kg)
  • Loch Trout 140g fillet - £2.00 each (usually £2.85)
  • Sea Bass 70g fillet - £1.75 each (usually £2.20)
  • Fresh whole Trout 250g - £2.00 each (usually £2.40)

10th June – 30th June:

  • Whole Sea Bream 300g - £3.00 each (usually £4.00)
  • Whole Sea Bass 300g - £3.00 each (usually £4.00)