Colin d'Alaska (Alaska pollock) à la bordelaise by Findus

Findus reinvents its fish range with new products

FRANCE
Wednesday, August 09, 2023, 07:00 (GMT + 9)

The brand is diversifying its portfolio of fish species and developing a new range in the cooked vegetables niche.

Findus announced innovations for its seafood products, following the April launch of its Bistro de la Mer range. On the menu, a graphic overhaul of its Experts de la mer brand and the launch of the plain frozen haddock.

Certified ASC Panga from Vietnam as raw material

While the frozen fish segment lost 7% in volume between 2021 and 2022, Findus only posted a drop of 3.2%, on the strength of its leading position with 42.3% market share in frozen fish. . The famous national brand can count on its pillars such as Croustibat (turnover up 28% in 2022), Fish & Chips (turnover + 31.2%) and L'Atelier Poisson (+ 34.6%). For its seafood products, Findus displays a desire to diversify the catalog – mainly Alaska pollock and cod today – and to offer farmed species, such as pangasius in its recent Bistro de la Mer range. “Diversification goes through innovation,” emphasizes the brand.

After 10 years of stagnation, then two more of record growth against the backdrop of the pandemic (2020 and 2021), savory frozen foods came out of 2022 out of breath: volumes falling by 7% for a result in value which remains slightly in the positive but only due to the effect of inflation (with an average volume price up 9% on a year-to-date basis stopped at P13). “2022 will therefore have been a year of discontinuity for the savory frozen category , summarizes Gloria Lombardi, the marketing director of Findus France, who evokes in this particular context a balance sheet, all in all positive for the brand of the Nomad Foods group. 

If on the one hand, Findus' volumes fell by 3.2% in 2022 (i.e. still less than the market), it would have continued to strengthen its value market share on the total frozen savory (9, 7%, i.e. +0.3 pts*), with more marked growth on certain mainstay products (in particular Croustibat, which gained an additional 1.3 points in market share). “In the end, Findus is the first national brand contributing to the growth of savory in 2022 ". The marketing director announcing a contribution of €12.3 million to the category's turnover, ahead of Charal and Marie. Above all, it confirms that the first periods of this year point to a certain recovery in volume growth on the market.

Opening to certified panga and haddock

In any case, 2023 marks a return to major maneuvers at Findus, starting with the launch since April of a cross-functional Bistro de la mer offer to revitalize cooked fish. The offer already includes a new range of grilled fish, made with farmed fish, ASC-certified panga. ! “Today, barely 5% of global panga production is ASC certified. It is therefore a strong axis of differentiation to help the French to go beyond the classic species“, underlines Natacha Brouste, the head of the Fish group. Bistro de la Mer also hosts relaunches of pillar recipes such as Colin d'Alaska (Alaska pollock) à la bordelaise and also allows Findus to flirt with the aperitif trend, via a range of appetizers combining fish and vegetables, which play on a dual mode of consumption in the heart of a meal as for the aperitif dinner. And this offer is only the tip of the iceberg, since Findus will deploy in September a range of natural fish presented in new packaging. And a Findus natural fish which is also opening up to new species with the arrival of MSC-certified haddock (in 4 x 110 g for a PMC of €11.99). "We must encourage this diversification in the Extreme Cold department, while relying on an index of the price difference per kilo between fresh and frozen fish, which with 1.6, leans clearly to the advantage of the second”.

“There is strong development potential for natural fish, the first product on frozen fish,” recalls Natacha Brouste. Findus has reworked the packaging of its Experts de la mer range to highlight the raw aspect of the products and is taking a risky bet: the frozen haddock loin. "Fresh fish is on average 1.6 times more expensive than frozen," explains Findus' fish manager. This product is an alternative to fresh in times of inflation and remains a consensual and easy-to-prepare fish. The haddock will be offered after the summer, in 4 units of 110 grams, at an average recommended price of 11.95 euros.

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