Launched by the frozen food giant last year, the new product is made of Atlantic pollack, which is higher in omega-3 oils than most other types of white fish.

The news was revealed by Birds Eye chief executive Martin Glenn, who was speaking at the recent North Atlantic Seafood Forum in Oslo.

Welcoming the development, he added that in the last quarter of 2007 Birds Eye had sold more pollack products than those made of cod or haddock, indicating that people were becoming both more health conscious and worried about cod stocks.

He also said that sales of frozen fish generally were on the rise and that Birds Eye was increasing its own market share and was determined to win back some of the ground it lost to Young's.

On sustainability, he maintained that the vast majority of the company's fish supplies came from well managed stocks, with just under half MSC certified.

Despite many different trends in eating, fish fingers - 'invented' at its old Grimsby factory - have remained a staple part of the British diet for over 50 years and the success of the omega-3 products can largely be attributed to the demand for healthier foods. Birds Eye has also spent heavily on marketing the new product through television advertising. To date, over 15 billion fish fingers of all kinds have been sold in Britain and a million are still eaten every day.

It is just over a year since Birds Eye announced it was ceasing fish production in the UK by closing their Hull factory and moving operations to Bremerhaven in Germany.

The move, which cost around 600 jobs on the Humber, followed the controversial sale by Unilever to the private equity group Permira.

But the move seems to have worked - Birds Eye frozen fish sales last year increased by 6.4 per cent to more than £171 million - and are thought to be still rising.

Meanwhile, the omega-3 habit seems to be catching on. Young's is relaunching its Chip Shop range, which has sales of over £56 million a year, and will include a number of new Omega-3 rich products.

Helen Taylor, marketing controller at Young's said: “The relaunch of Young’s Chip Shop and the new omega-3 range will add significant value to a sector that has been quite flat to date. It will also draw in new users, including younger consumers, to the brand, which is one of Britain’s best loved institutions.”

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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