Herring Roe Sales Increase, says Waitrose

Demand for old-fashioned herring roe at Waitrose has jumped 39% so far this year compared to the same period of 2010.

Home cooks have caused a jump in sales of the lowest-cost item on the supermarket’s fish counter, priced at just 59p per serving.

At £3.99 per kilo, this high-quality product's price is the lowest by weight of all the products sold at Waitrose fish counters.

Herring roe is best served lightly seasoned, dipped in flour then fried and dished up on  hot toast.

Waitrose fish buyer Jeremy Langley said the high demand for herring roe was part of a wider trend for adventurous shoppers seeking out nutritious, good value fish.

"Sales of herring roe are up sharply this year, which must be because it is a very good value product," he said.

"It’s been sold at Waitrose for many years so it’s significant that the cheapest product by weight on our fish counters is now becoming popular again.

"When it comes to taste, herring roe isn’t the poor relation to other items in the fish aisle. It’s delicious fried and served on hot buttered toast."

Around 150g of herring roe will serve one person, equating to a price of around 59p per portion.

The growing popularity of this good value fish comes as Waitrose’s sales of other once-neglected varieties have increased.

The high-profile Fish Fight campaign by chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has encouraged shoppers to try lesser-knowns pecies of fish to take pressure off the "big five" - cod, haddock, salmon, prawns and tuna.

British mackerel sales at the supermarket have more than doubled since January (up 105%) while Cornish pollack has trebled, with a 207% sales upturn.

Herring roe sold at Waitrose fish counters is responsibly caught in the north-west Atlantic. Waitrose ensures that all fish sold in its stores are not species regarded as endangered or under threat.

Wild fish must be caught from well-managed fisheries using responsible fishing methods and be fully traceable from catch to consumer. Similarly, farmed fish must be from responsible farms (Waitrose buys no fish on the open market).

Waitrose pioneered responsible fish sourcing in supermarkets more than 15 years ago. It currently sells 11% of fresh and smoked fish bought in Britain.

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