Coming off two strong sales years, seafood saw dollar and pound declines in 2022. Pounds declined just under 15% and fell below 2019 levels, according to IRI retail sales data. Dollar sales declined a little more than 8% and fell below 2020 levels but remained ahead of their pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Fresh seafood prices were down in December 2022 compared with the end of 2021. For the year, 2022 seafood prices increased 7.9%, below the rate of inflation for the overall food and beverage category (12.5%). Only frozen seafood prices increased above the total store level of inflation. Shelf-stable seafood prices, including canned products and pouches, had a double-digit increase over year-ago levels in December 2022.