The emergence of skin-pack tilapia products, newer distribution channels and increasing demand from the meal-kit sector are helping to drive orders as suppliers look to find ways around the falloff in foodservice business linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic and in recent years, the US tilapia market for fresh and frozen products was stagnant amid stable product availability and supply lines and a roughly equal split between retail and foodservice demand.

But buying tilted sharply towards the retail sector with the onset of the pandemic, with some reporting that higher demand has pushed up prices.