"The strong sales results from Kiwi and Extra in January show that Norwegians want to eat more fish," said the Manager for Norway at the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Photo: Norwegian Seafood Council.
During the first month of the year, members of Coop - a consumer-owned cooperative organization that is Norway's second largest grocery player - were able to buy any type of fish at a 20% discount at the Extra supermarket chain. Meanwhile, Kiwi kicked off 2025 with price cuts on over 100 healthier products across various categories, including seafood. Both strategies proved successful, with some striking increases, demonstrating that lower prices increase fish consumption among Norwegian consumers.
In January 2025, fish and seafood accounted for 20% of Extra's in-store protein sales, up from 15% in January of the previous year, a remarkable 33% year-on-year increase.
"During the campaign, we doubled our average sales and increased our market share in volume by almost 7 percent. We are very pleased with the results, and it is clear that these types of campaigns work," explained Ole Førre Skogstø, Head of Strategy, Concept, and Category at Extra.
Indeed, the supermarket chain acknowledges the campaign has performed even better than expected, achieving not only an increase in sales but, also a change in consumer habits.
"There has been a marked increase in the share of fish on dinner plates," said Ingrid Sanfelt Hansen, Marketing Manager at Extra. "The campaign not only increased sales figures but also influenced consumer habits. People have simply changed the protein on their plates," she added.
To achieve this, in addition to the price reduction, Extra set a clear objective for its marketing campaign: to highlight fish as a category and target families with children.
"Price is the biggest barrier to why people don't eat fish more often. That's why it was crucial for us to emphasize price in the campaign. At the same time, capturing people's attention is challenging, so creativity played a major role," Sanfelt Hansen continued.
The campaign – which, according to Norwegian advertising industry magazine Kampanje, topped the advertising rankings in January - used reverse psychology as a sales strategy, playing on the idea that children don't like fish to encourage them to eat more.
"The campaign has been very well received, exceeding all expectations. The entire organization contributed to its success, and we are all very proud of the results," Extra's Marketing Manager concluded.
As mentioned above, Kiwi's strategy involved reducing prices on more than 100 healthier products in several categories, including seafood.
"The price cut lasted for five weeks, allowing customers to establish healthier habits. It was well received by both customers and employees, and overall, sales of healthier products increased by 93 percent during the campaign period," stated Henriette Gran Nyhus, Category Manager at Kiwi.
"We are convinced that price is the most effective tool we have to increase fish consumption, and we see a significant effect when we lower prices. We are very pleased with the response and the start of the year and look forward to selling a lot of fish in 2025," she added.
Like Extra, Kiwi also noted a positive impact by reducing fish prices in January. It reported a total increase of 54% in the number of fresh fish units sold compared to the same month last year.
In the case of salmon and trout fillets, growth reached an impressive 249% compared to the same month last year. In addition, Kiwi experienced particularly strong growth in frozen fish products.
As an example, the supermarket chain - famous for its low prices and focus on the economy without sacrificing quality - said its sales of Fiskemannen's 500g cod loins were up 70%, while Findus' crispy fish fillets grew "an astonishing" 719%.
The direct correlation between fish consumption and its price is not new, as EU consumption trends already revealed when inflation hit hardest, in 2022. Therefore, the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) stressed the importance of the collaboration of both industry and trade actors to make it easier for fish to reach all layers of consumers.
Known for being responsible for marketing measures for Norwegian fish and fishery products abroad - the appointment of a new envoy to the U.S. was recently announced -, the NSC also works to promote the consumption of seafood products at home.
Nationally, it does so through the 'Godfisk' brand, which provides consumers not only with knowledge to help them choose fish and seafood but also inspiration to make them the choice for their dinners at least two days a week.
Thus, Agnete Bell, Manager for Norway at the Norwegian Seafood Council, was very excited about the sales growth at Extra and Kiwi after the reduced fish prices campaign that the two supermarket chains carried out in January.
"At Godfisk.no, we work every day to inspire Norwegians to choose seafood more often. In this effort, we rely on collaborating with industry players and the grocery trade. The strong sales results from Kiwi and Extra in January show that Norwegians want to eat more fish and that inspiration, advertising, and price influence their food choices," Bell said.
