Salmon returning to pub and restaurant menus as sea bass prices rise.
Rising sea bass prices and improved confidence in salmon supply could see salmon return to UK pub and restaurant menus, according to Andrew Jackson, Managing Director at UK seafood supplier Marrfish.
Speaking to SalmonBusiness at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Jackson said price dynamics in the seafood category were shifting purchasing decisions in hospitality. “Walk around Covent Garden — that’s the benchmark, because that’s where all the chain restaurants are. It has been all bass and king prawn recently,” he said.
Jackson pointed to significant bass mortality events last year as a key driver behind current price increases, and contrasted that with signs of stabilisation in the salmon sector. “The production fish problem the industry had last year seems to be getting sorted out,” he noted, referring to concerns in early 2024 about lower-quality harvests that had undermined confidence in the sector and pushed prices up.
“The peaks and troughs damage the confidence level,” he said. “People take it [salmon] off the menu — and then smoked salmon follows. It’s not all about contracted price, supermarkets and retail. It’s about restaurants and hotels — and if they’re not confident, they take it off. There’s nothing the consumer can do.”
Jackson also pointed to a communication gap within the salmon industry. “There’s a lot of good work being done in the background — but the industry doesn’t talk about it because they never want to admit there was a problem,” he said. “You can’t say too much, because it’s admitting the industry hasn’t been good enough in the past.”
Marrfish is a UK seafood supplier serving the hospitality sector, and is part of the Marr family of businesses with a long-standing presence in the British fishing industry.
Jackson’s comments highlight how volatility — whether in price or product quality — affects menu planning and long-term confidence among chefs and operators, particularly in the mid-market hospitality sector.