Tilapia Pricing and Costs
Find tilapia that meets each customer's needs and fits your budget
Tilapia is a mild flavored fish that can be fried, sautéed, baked or poached. As people get more health conscious, this fish is gaining popularity. This means that seafood providers and restaurants have to adjust their inventory amounts of the fish they keep on hand. This means adjusting the budget, which, in some cases, is no small feat.Some tilapia pricing and costs associated with purchasing the fish depend upon the time of year you need it. For example, prices rise slightly around holidays. Packing the fish may cost more during hot summer months due to extreme temperature extremes. Consider the following pricing and cost guidelines when planning your budget for purchasing tilapia:
1. Get fresh farm raised tilapia to avoid price fluctuations.
2. Buy fresh wild caught tilapia if you need the fish to have a slightly bolder flavor than farm raised.
3. Consider frozen tilapia if you can use a mix of farm raised and wild caught fish or if you need to purchase ahead in large quantities.
Buy fresh farm raised tilapia
Farm raised tilapia usually fluctuates less in price than wild caught tilapia. This is partially because tilapia aquaculture farmers can plan breedings to ensure a continuous supply of the fish. Tilapia suppliers that sell fresh farm raised tilapia usually purchase it from farmers in their area and ship it chilled.
Try: Charleston Seafood sells fresh tilapia for around $12 per pound. All of the tilapia sold by this company is farm raised by tilapia aquaculture farms in the Charleston area. This company also offers many complimentary items to use in popular tilapia recipes. Always Fresh Fish offers tilapia from tilapia farms for around $9 per pound. You must meet a minimum order requirement to order from this company. This website offers a preferred tilapia recipe on its website, along with information about tilapia.
Purchase wild caught tilapia
Wild caught tilapia is available year round. There isn't a tilapia season. However, because of natural fluctuations in the number of tilapia fisheries catch throughout the year, there is a noticeable increase in price, generally during November and December. Averaging out the cost of wild caught tilapia throughout the year can help you price your tilapia appropriately without having to raise the price during those months when the price is higher.
Try: Fresh Lobster Company sells wild caught tilapia caught by tilapia fisheries in the Gloucester, Maine area. This company generally ships the fish the same day the tilapia fishery catches it. Prices start at around $15 per pound. Kosher.com sells only foods that are considered kosher. The tilapia is sold in two pound boxes for under $30 per box. This company also sells many other items that can compliment all tilapia recipes, including baked tilapia recipes.
Order frozen tilapia
Frozen tilapia is usually a mixture of farm raised and wild caught fish. This is because the packing company purchases the most inexpensive type at the time of packaging. However, this mixture works well if you are preparing tilapia in batches because each type of fish tastes slightly different. When they are packaged together, the flavors usually even each other out to produce a more flavorful fillet.
Try: Authentic Louisiana Seafood sells frozen tilapia fish in 10 pound boxes. Each box sells for around $45. This website requires you to email or call them to place an order. You can find frozen tilapia packaged for food service use at FoodServiceDirect.com. Each case is just under 11 pounds. The price per case starts at under $60 for smaller fillets and goes higher for larger fillets.
- Regardless of where you order tilapia from, you must ensure that the company you order from, as well as the delivery company, follow safe seafood handling practices. Chilled fish should remain under 40 degrees Fahrenheit and frozen should remain under 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
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