On their quest for the best, Whitby Seafoods has now bagged the title of the ‘fastest-growing coated seafood brand’. In the past 4 weeks, the Yorkshire company has seen a whopping 45.3% increase in spending and 41.3% increase in volume. What’s more, they have also seen a 32% rise in households buying into the brand this year, with 50,000 new households being introduced to the brand in the last month alone.
Founded in 1985 by Graham Whittle, the family set out with a buccaneering spirit, committed to doing things honestly and properly to make the best scampi around. Now, 34 years later, the family-run company continues to go from strength to strength and have reported an impressive £60 million turnover.
Whitby Seafoods’ mission to wow customers with bloomin’ special seafood remains, and with a passion to grow, the seafood specialists are working hard to closely analyse the market. By doing so, they have recognised that their target audience spans wider than they once thought. Seafood is now being enjoyed by a range of consumers, including a younger and more affluent demographic – an insight which the company plans to use to develop new and exciting products! This work has already begun with the addition of Whitebait and three new and exciting Fishcake lines to their existing range.
In addition, Whitby Seafoods have also added to their product offering with the launch of their gluten-free range; which is available in Sainsbury’s and Asda. The company has succeeded in combining taste and emotion into a category that can sometimes be perceived as functional and bland, and have ensured their bloomin’ special taste credentials stay in tact.
The Yorkshire food brand has continued to strengthen the brand through a ‘range development programme’ aimed at aligning their current product range with a number of different occasions. This involved reviewing ‘pack formats’ not only to help highlight the different products and occasions to consumers but from an environmental point of view. The seafood family have done some tip-top work by moving some of their products into box cartons – reducing the amount of plastic from each pack by 40%! With such significant media attention around plastic reduction, Whitby Seafoods highlighted that it was essential to do their bit. Going forward, the company will continue to steer away from plastic trays in their chilled food by switching to card. This will result in a massive 85% reduction in plastic and in total, 12 tonnes of plastic will be removed from their supply chain each year! Their aim is to be 100% plastic-free by next year.
Laura Whittle, Whitby Seafoods Sales and Marketing Director said: “Our brand definitely stands out on the shelf, and the new packaging and product lines only add to our appeal. We’ve taken onboard consumer feedback and adapted our packaging, to be more environmentally friendly by removing a large percentage of plastic. It’s incredible to be crowned the fastest-growing seafood brand, in both volume and value, and to see the number of distribution points nearly double is pretty breathtaking stuff.”
