Let Fish Fridays Begin!
5 Tips to Make the Best of Fish Sales During Lent
There are many reasons people believe the Catholic church (and other religions) instruct followers not to eat meat on Friday, which has been narrowed down to Fridays and Ash Wednesday during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. Some believe it was a "deal" made by a powerful medieval pope to exclude fish from the meat abstinence mandate to help boost the fishing industry, although there is no proof of this conspiracy.
Whatever the facts, Lent has long been the No. 1 season for restaurant seafood sales (including McDonald's, where fish fillet sandwiches are rumored to exist mainly for this season alone), grocery stores, and other fish retailers. Seafood sales in restaurants increase by 20% during Lent. This isn't surprising given that about 23% of the United States population is Catholic, and about 62% of them don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Adding to seafood's allure is the increasing popularity of the Friday fish fry for people of many ethnic backgrounds that may—or may not—associate them with Lent. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, seafood sales increased, showing more people are comfortable cooking seafood at home.
So, how do restaurants and grocery stores make the best of Lent's upward seafood trend? Below are a few suggestions, besides the more obvious one of featuring it on menus and sales promotions.
And the winner is. Whether you own a restaurant or a retail seafood outlet, people love to win prizes. They also love to have people know they won. Hold a best weekly seafood contest for the most original tasty recipe, offering discounts as prizes. Feature the overall 40-Days of Lent winning recipe in your sales promotions or add the dish to your menu as the winning special.
More than fish to fry. People love options, especially those who tire of the traditional fish fry or may shy away for health reasons. Start a Friday Fish Around the World featuring a different ethnic seafood dinner with appropriate side dishes. Branzino fish tacos with guacamole and Mexican rice, lightly dusted calamari followed by shrimp linguini. You get the idea. Remember to pair it with an appropriate beverage to add to the fun and boost your margins.
Let's do lunch. Often, during Lent, people focus on dinner when, technically, believers are encouraged to eat less overall that day and avoid big meals. This, combined with a growing trend to eat less late, is a great reason to focus on lighter Friday seafood options such as Sweet & Spicy Crispy Bakeable Shrimp, Premium Shrimp Burgers and calamari or shrimp salad.
Get carried away. One of the things the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown did was prove to many people that seafood CAN be taken to go. So, stock your freezer with portable options like breaded calamari, premium shrimp burgers, and shrimp, which are tasty, versatile, and well-seasoned travelers.
In praise of rush hour. Remember that for much of the world, Friday marks the end of a long work week, and the last thing many heads of households want to do is run around buying lots of ingredients to fix dinner. In fact, many restaurants experience unexpected rushes on Friday for this very reason. Either way, the key is to be prepared with a variety of quality seafood that can quickly go from freezer to plate in mere minutes because the other thing hungry people don't want to do after a whole work week is wait. Your customers will thank you!