Claire helped encourage shoppers across Fife to try alternative, lesser known British fish for free when Sainsbury’s gave away fish as part of ‘Switch the Fish Day’.
Customers were able to try lemon sole, mussels, Cornish sardines, coley fillets or loch trout fillets in a bid to encourage shoppers to expand the range of fish they eat and try alternative species as part of the retailer’s continued commitment to sustainable fish.
Claire visited the store in Kirkcaldy to encourage customers to continue to broaden their appetite for fish beyond the ‘Big Five’ species of cod, haddock, tuna, salmon and prawns, which currently makes up 80% of all the fish Brits consume.
When a customer asks for one of the Big Five species at the fish counter on ‘Switch the Fish Day’ they can try a lesser known alternative for free*. The launch builds on the success of Sainsbury’s first ‘Switch the Fish Day’ in 2011 which saw sales of fish soar by 12% across fish counters on the day.
Sainsbury’s hopes that the Switch the Fish campaign will better help educate consumers about making sustainable choices. As part of the Sainsbury’s commitment, 18,000 counters colleagues have gone through training at the Sainsbury’s food colleges.
Justin King, Sainsbury’s CEO said: “Sainsbury’s is committed to fishing responsibly and helping change UK fish eating habits. We know our customers care about responsibly sourced food and this is a great opportunity for them to try some alternative British fish for free.
“This year Switch the Fish is set to be bigger, together with our colleague training and partnership with Fishermen’s Mission, we are working towards sustainable fish for the future.”
Claire Baker MSP said: “I hope this campaign will encourage Sainsbury’s customers to try different species of fish. There’s so many great tasting varieties of sustainable British fish available in-store and I’m delighted to back the campaign. I will definitely be trying some new alternatives in future”.