Apparent consumption of fishery and aquaculture products in the European Union fell from 12.94 million tonnes in 2014 to 10.25 million tonnes in 2023, while per capita consumption declined from 25.5 to 22.9 kg. Behind the drop in volumes, however, the European Commission’s latest study identifies a broader change in purchasing habits: particularly among younger consumers, demand is growing for portioned, packaged and easier-to-prepare seafood products.
Fish continues to play an important role in European diets, but that role is no longer quite the same as it was ten years ago. What is changing is not simply how much seafood people buy, but also how often they eat it, where they consume it and, perhaps most importantly, what they expect to find when they approach the fish counter, supermarket shelf or frozen-food aisle.
A particularly clear picture of this transformation emerges from the European Commission’s new study on the consumption of fishery and aquaculture products in the EU, published on 28 August 2026. Over the decade examined, total apparent consumption fell from 12.94 million tonnes in 2014 to 10.25 million tonnes in 2023. Over the same period, per capita consumption declined from 25.5 to 22.9 kg, the lowest level recorded in the period covered by the study.
The figures become more revealing, however, when the European average is broken down by individual markets. Trends differ considerably from one country to another: Spain and France recorded declines, while Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia were among the markets where consumption increased over the period. More importantly, the ways in which seafood fits into everyday eating habits are themselves evolving.
Lower frequency, different expectations
The European study points to a gradual shift away from frequent consumption at home towards more occasional eating patterns, alongside a growing role for seafood consumed out of home. The trend is particularly significant among younger generations, who generally show less familiarity with preparing fish while placing greater value on convenience.
This matters because it moves the discussion beyond the traditional question of how much fish people consume. For part of the market, it is becoming equally important to understand how easily a purchase can be turned into a meal. A whole fish requires knowledge, preparation time and a certain confidence in cleaning, portioning and cooking it; a fillet or a predefined portion removes some of those steps and makes the final result easier to anticipate.
It is therefore hardly surprising that the Commission identifies increasing demand for portioned, pre-packed, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products. This does not mean that traditional fish products are disappearing, nor that consumers necessarily want seafood to undergo more processing. What is emerging instead is a market in which different levels of convenience increasingly coexist.
Format is becoming part of the product
For the seafood supply chain, this evolution has a very practical consequence: species and raw-material quality remain fundamental, but the format in which a product reaches the market is becoming an increasingly visible part of its commercial value.
The same fish can respond to very different consumption occasions depending on whether it is sold whole, gutted, filleted, portioned, fresh or frozen. Each option changes the time required for preparation, the skills expected from the consumer, the amount of waste to be managed and, for both retail and foodservice, the way the product can be stored and used.
Against this backdrop, the way suppliers are adapting their ranges becomes particularly relevant. OROMAR, based in Urk in the Netherlands, for example, offers sea bass and sea bream in a variety of configurations. In the fresh category, the fish is available whole or as fillets, while the frozen range also includes whole, gutted and scaled fish as well as fillets in different sizes, with retail formats available on request. What matters here is not the individual assortment itself, but the principle behind it: the same species can serve different customers and consumption occasions without losing its identity, simply by varying the level of service built around the product.
The issue, therefore, is no longer only which species to bring to market, but how effectively an offer can respond to increasingly diverse ways of using them. This shift directly concerns B2B operators as well, because what consumers experience as convenience often begins much earlier in the supply chain, through decisions involving processing, packaging, range architecture and logistics.
Price and quality still matter, but they no longer tell the whole story
Affordability has not replaced the traditional drivers of seafood purchasing. The Commission study confirms that price and product appearance remain among the main factors influencing buying decisions, while origin, convenience and sustainability are becoming increasingly relevant.
The Italian market is showing signs consistent with the same direction of travel. Data presented at the Norwegian Seafood Seminar 2026 showed an Italian seafood retail market worth more than €4 billion, alongside the growing presence of packaged formats and the evolution of traditional categories towards frozen products and solutions offering a higher level of service.
This does not mean consumers have stopped looking for freshness, quality or value for money. Rather, these factors are now being assessed within everyday lives in which neither time nor cooking skills can be taken for granted. The ease with which a product can be stored, portioned and prepared can therefore affect whether consumers decide to buy it again.
Availability also shapes what we eat
There is another layer to the market that is less visible to the consumer but highly relevant to its structure. The Commission links consumption patterns partly to Europe’s sourcing system, which remains heavily dependent on imports and, particularly in retail, relies on stable and predictable supplies.
This requirement contributes to concentrating demand around a relatively limited number of species, including salmon, tuna and shrimp. Consumer familiarity matters, but familiarity is reinforced by the ability of retailers to source these products consistently, in sufficient volumes and in formats suited to different channels.
This is perhaps one of the most useful conclusions of the new European study, because it prevents the debate over seafood consumption from being reduced to price alone. Cost remains a clear barrier, but it sits alongside less obvious obstacles: not knowing how to prepare a species, seeing whole fish as difficult to handle, having limited time, or being unable to judge portions and yield easily can all discourage a purchase, even among consumers who would otherwise like to eat more seafood.
For the industry, the challenge over the coming years will therefore be twofold: to continue delivering competitive, high-quality raw material while reducing the distance between seafood products and the everyday lives of the people who buy them. That does not necessarily mean more processing. It means giving customers the possibility to choose the level of service that best fits a particular channel, market and consumption occasion.
The decline recorded over the past decade remains a signal the industry cannot ignore. At the same time, the Commission’s analysis suggests that part of the answer may lie precisely in the way seafood is presented and made available. Fish does not simply need to reach the market in the right condition; it also has to fit, with as little friction as possible, into the routines of the people whose choices ultimately sustain that market.
