Report on the potential of selected innovative products in European markets. Deliverable 2.4: SUCCESS-Project

This work has been undertaken as part of the SUCCESS project (Work Package 2: Consumer preferences, market acceptance and social awareness towards seafood) funded by the EC (H2020, GA 635188). Deliverable 2.4 focuses on the results of task 2.4. of the project. In this task innovative seafood products with potential for different national markets were identified and investigated. The research focused on species which were perceived to be relevant in different European countries and which were supposed to have an additional market potential. Relevant in this context means that they were relevant for different producer groups and ‘innovativeness’ was interpreted as new preparation forms of well-known, even traditional, species and production systems. The focus was on likely market potential with respect to consumer reaction. Specific cases for which an increase in demand on the European market will be particularly beneficial for producers were analysed and were selected in close cooperation with project partners and the SUCCESS case studies, and tested for consumers’ reactions and preferences. Included species were carp, plaice, trout and scallops plus coastal fisheries as production system. The research combined qualitative and quantitative methods. In a first step a series of focus group discussion was conducted aiming at exploring consumers’ perceptions of selected species according to the relevance in the respective study country. Based on the outcome of the focus group discussions, a standardised questionnaire was developed and a quantitative online survey was conducted. Based on the insights of the two research steps, potentials for the tested seafood products on selected European markets are shown and ways for an improved communication of the tested seafood products and for sustainable seafood are outlined...