The Trouble With Tuna: "A Lot of Millennials Dont Even Own Can Openers

StarKist, Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea deal with slumping market amid competition from fresher options


https://www.wsj.com/articles/tuna-ma...ers-1543766400

By Jesse Newman and
Annie Gasparro
Dec. 2, 2018 11:00 a.m. ET

Excerpts:

Canned tuna, a lunchbox staple from the 20th century, is fighting to keep its spot in American cupboards...

....Younger consumers are opting for fresh or frozen fish over canned items. Just 32% of consumers aged 18 to 34 recently bought canned fish or shellfish, compared with 45% of those 55 years old and older, according to market-research firm Mintel.

Tuna first made inroads into American cupboards following a sardine shortage in 1903 and grew in popularity during wartime protein shortages that followed and as new canning technologies took hold. Since the late 1980s, its reputation has changed as consumers worried about potential mercury poisoning, the harm done to dolphins and its likeness to cat food.

Then there is the smell. €œIts over and above fishy,€� said Thomas Lane, a 54-year-old designer at Intel Corp...

....Timmy Mathew, a 26-year-old tax accountant in Chicago, said he was game to try the new tuna products but remained skeptical. €œThere are food trends€”quinoa and kale are hot. Canned tuna has never been hot.€�





Lenona.