Pandemic cooks are looking to seafood to provide healthy, versatile dishes — but mostly, just to have a special treat during trying times.
“According to Technomic’s 2019 Center of the Plate: Seafood and Vegetarian Consumer Trend Report, top purchase drivers for seafood are just liking seafood (52 percent), a craving for a specific seafood item (46 percent) followed by to treat myself (39 percent),” says Lizzy Freier, senior managing editor at Technomic, a Winsight company, based in Chicago. “Seventy-three percent of consumers classify seafood as healthy or very healthy, but only 33 percent of consumers select seafood because it’s healthier than meat options.”