This study assesses preference shifts in salmon products at different processing levels during the recent pandemic in the UK. We hypothesize that consumers preferred less processed salmon over more processed salmon, as indicated by the significant increase in Google search results for ‘salmon recipe/salmon recipes’ and ‘how to cook salmon’ during the pandemic. For home consumption, the degree of processing is related to the time required for preparation, an indicator of convenience, which is one of the most important determinants of food acquisition and consumption practices. Based on household panel data, our descriptive analysis shows that consumers bought more natural, less processed salmon than prepared salmon, aligning with the internet search results. Among prepared salmon, the sales volume of fresh salmon products grew more than that of frozen salmon products, most of which are easily prepared for eating. We further estimate hedonic price models for natural and prepared salmon to investigate how Google search results for salmon-related queries affect price premiums of salmon product attributes during the pandemic.
Keywords: Salmon; Preference shift; COVID-19; Google Trends; Hedonic price model