Sydney Fish Market kicked off the 36-Hour Seafood Marathon with a record-breaking auction on 23 December. The record sale of $1.4 million worth of fresh seafood signalled strong consumer demand ahead of the festive season. The previous auction record was set on the 27th January, 2017.
CEO of Sydney Fish Market, Greg Dyer says; “Retailers, wholesalers and restaurateurs come to the daily seafood auction from all over Sydney and beyond to purchase the freshest seafood direct from suppliers.
“The increase in sales at the auction demonstrates a growing popularity of seafood at Christmas as people diversify beyond traditional hot meals such as roast turkey, roast pork and even ham.”
A significant contributing factor to the record-breaking auction was the large volume of highly sought-after products, most notably crustaceans and molluscs. The full spectrum of crustacea was represented with strong supply of farmed Prawns in addition to Blue Swimmer Crab, Mud Crab, School Prawn, Spanner Crab and Bugs.
The 36 Hour Seafood Marathon commenced at 5am, Monday 23 December and continues until 5pm on Christmas Eve, attracting over 100,000 visitors.
Sydney Fish Market’s retailers have options to cater for all taste buds, with over 100 different varieties of fresh seafood available to suit every budget. Retail prices are comparable to last year, ranging from approximately $10/kg for species such as Blue Mackerel, School Whiting, Sea Mullet and Blue Mussels, to up to nearly $200/kg for Rock Lobster and King Crab.
“Prawns and oysters have proven to be crowd favourites again this year. We’ve had a bumper season and customers can expect plenty of variety with a prawn on offer for every taste and budget,” Mr Dyer said.