Seafood Product Preparation & Packaging NAICS 311710

Nov 23, 2025 - Rising Prices, Falling Sales

• Grocery price inflation caused seafood sales at US retail stores to fall in October, Seafood News reported in November, citing new data from consumer research firm Circana. Frozen seafood prices rose 5.3% year over year in October, contributing to sales declines of 2.7% by value to $723 million and a 7.6% drop in volume, according to Circana. Two major species in the frozen category, shrimp and salmon, realized price increases of 9.2%. The latest data from the Labor Department shows that fish and seafood prices rose 2.1% year over year in September but eased 0.3% from August. The price of processed fish and seafood rose 1% YoY in September, while prices for frozen fish and seafood jumped 6.6% over the same period.
• A new underground cold-storage facility in a limestone cave beneath Kansas City, Missouri is the site of a new regional cold-chain hub designed to support food storage, refrigerated distribution, and temperature-sensitive logistics, Food Engineering reports. Located in SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex, the nearly 19,000-square-foot facility provides a naturally climate-controlled, energy-efficient environment for maintaining frozen inventory with lower temperature fluctuation risk. The natural temperature and humidity conditions created by the limestone reduce utility costs by up to 70%. SubTropolis offers rail and truck dock access for efficient inbound and outbound logistics, which can reduce transit times and costs for frozen food producers. The facility’s Adaptive Growth Logistics model enables data-driven supply chain management, offering manufacturers smarter ways to scale while improving inventory integrity. For frozen-food manufacturers, this could mean lower spoilage risk, better cold-chain reliability, and more resilience in their distribution networks, according to FE.

• In response to President Trump’s Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, NOAA Fisheries is calling for public comments to help fulfill the president's vision of making the US the world's dominant seafood leader. NOAA is gathering input on how to improve fisheries management and science, specifically on the following issues: Regulations that govern fishing activities that may be suspended, revised, or rescinded; Challenges specific fisheries are facing and and examples of existing federal fishery regulations that could be modified to enhance US fishing businesses; What types of data, forecasting tools, or information products are most needed by US fishing businesses to adapt effectively to changing economic and/or environmental conditions and maintain access to fishery resources; and how to expand exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing opportunities nationwide. The 45-day public comment period ended October 14, 2025.
• Producer prices for seafood product preparation and packaging manufacturers rose 4.8% in August compared to a year ago, after inching up 0.9% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Prices for seafood products before they reach consumers have risen relatively steadily since 2020 to a new high in August. Employment by the industry, which is highly seasonal and typically peaks in July, continues to plummet, shrinking 15.7% year over year in July. Employment by seafood product preparation and packaging producers has declined by more than a third over the past ten years, much lower than the 13% growth in overall private employment.