Asda - the ‘Plaice’ to make fish the dish of the day
Asda has launched new and improved fish counters across 302 stores nationwide; part of the retailer’s £16 million investment planned in 2012 to improve its fresh food offering. The counters were developed in response to customer insight which revealed that while almost half of the nation eat fish at least once a week (47%), a fifth (21%) never buy fresh fish at the supermarket. Of those that never eat fish, 26% are put off by the smell, 7% dislike the feel of raw fish and 5% lack confidence and knowledge in preparing and cooking it.
Asda’s new counters are designed to offer customers an easy solution to purchasing fish with three easy steps. Firstly shoppers choose their fish from over 20 varieties (and 35 different formats i.e. fillet, whole), with support of a trained Asda colleague, then they select their preferred marinades, sauces, flavoured butters or crumb toppings and finally choose a cooking method so it is handed over in either a microwave bag (ready in just 3 minutes), oven bag or BBQ foil tray – Asda do the messy bit so all that is left to do is cook it! All of this is at no extra cost; shoppers just pay for the fish, £4 for two.
A significant part of the investment has gone towards developing the flavour combinations to perfectly complement the different varieties of fish with both flavours and textures. The eleven choices of marinades, butters, sauces and crumbs were all put through the Chosen by you testing process so customers can be assured of both taste and quality. Combining the various species available and the range cooking and flavour combinations gives shoppers a choice of over 100 different fish dishes from the counter with everything from classics such as trout in creamy white wine sauce, to sea bass in sun blushed tomato and basil butter, to cod loin with a crispy Cajun style crumb or even the more Asian inspired salmon kebabs with teriyaki marinade and monkfish fillets in fragrant Thai sauce.
Jill Skipsey, Fish Counter Buyer at Asda said: “The revamp of our fish counters ensures that Asda is ‘o-fish-ally’ the best destination for quality and value fish. Introducing the Chosen by you range of complimentary sauces and cooking methods gives our customers added convenience at no extra cost, and the range of flavour and cooking combinations gives them the ‘oppor-tuna-ty’ to discover a new fish dish every day. ”
Trials of the new fish counters in four stores leading up to the launch showed an increase in fish sales by 15%, demonstrating how the simple process, the breadth of range and flavours, cooking preparation and the cooking instructions have inspired customers to eat more fish.