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Resistivity and (particularly) optical fish counters require in-river structures to direct the fish through the detection aperture of the counter. Fish ladders and Borland fish passes are effective structures for this purpose and occasionally a natural restriction within the river may be used for a similar purpose. However, for most counters a custom in-river structure will be required. One of the most effective such structures is the Crump weir, a triangular profile weir designed to ensure rapid planar flow over the detector. This “steady decline”, since its peak at the turn of the century, is borne out by sales statistics. Sainsbury’s announced it would not reopen its fresh food counters during the pandemic, while Asda said earlier this year that it would close most while replacing some with ready meals counters and food court-style areas. Wastage is also a big issue from counters, suggests Roberts, and will also have played a part in the decision by the likes of Asda and Tesco to focus elsewhere. “In most supermarkets at 7pm there will normally be a whole bay devoted to stuff from counters, particularly fish, that hasn’t sold.” Tesco has also trialled “lower rent” attempts at deli offerings in a few stores, with displays of meat and pies that have been centrally processed, Roberts notes. Meanwhile, Asda has also had success with McGees butcher concessions in its Northern Irish stores, he explains, while partnerships with the likes of Sushi Daily can continue a counter presence in fish.

Counter - Vaki Bioscanner Counter - Vaki

The results of automatic fish counters can be supplemented, confirmed, or replaced by a number of alternative techniques, varying in accuracy, cost, complexity, and skew effects. Asda’s plan will see it roll out at least 35 of its new formats by the end of the first quarter and 150 by the end of 2020, in a bid to “better align with our customers’ lifestyle”, suggested the senior manager of its food for now operation Elizabeth Ruddiman. Even Waitrose has cut opening hours on some of its counters. Tesco is poised to call time on the supermarket butcher and fishmonger as shopper interest in them wanes. Some systems such as the Riverwatcher use the infrared scanner to trigger a digital camera to capture between 1 and 5 photos or a short video clip of each fish. The computer then automatically links the images to other information contained in the database for that individual fish such as size, passing hour, speed, silhouette image, temperature etc.Some counters still do a great job and will continue to do so, says Roberts, but retailers will increasingly look to rent out their space in other stores. “We’ve seen both Tesco and Asda turn over space to halal operators such as Halal Food Centres and Haji Baba, which perform well in regions such as Yorkshire and London,” says Roberts, while Polish delis also play well where the local demographics are supportive. He said: “I would view it negatively, because it is withdrawing from an area of business – service – where British supermarkets could offer true differentiation. The camera is installed in a special tunnel that contains both the camera and lights providing constant light, and same distance from the camera for the fish. That way, it is possible to get good images of the fish regardless of time of day. So are we seeing a slow death of the meat and fish counter in the UK’s largest supermarkets? What’s driving this change and can the counter be reinvented for the 21st century? But you need to believe in your offer and put investment behind it. Tesco is never going to outprice Aldi and Lidl, so you need to give customers a reason to shop with you.”

Faughan - Loughs Agency Faughan - Loughs Agency

In this era of stiff competition from the discounters, having a counter proposition can offer crucial differentiation, says AHDBA number of factors helped boost pork spend, according to AHDB retail analyst Zoe Avison, including the fact pork has been “the cheapest cut per kilo in quite a price-led market”. The support of a generic marketing push over the past two years to promote pulled pork has also contributed, she suggests.

25 ‘Must own’ fishing gadgets | Angling Times 25 ‘Must own’ fishing gadgets | Angling Times

Morrisons, the UK’s fifth-biggest supermarket chain since being overtaken by Aldi in September, continues to offer deli counters at many stores, as do Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. Meanwhile, in fish, the stark reality is British shoppers are far less adventurous compared with those on the Continent, suggests Roberts. “A big store in Spain or Portugal will be making up to 12% of their revenue through the fish counter, whereas in the UK, that would be much closer to 0%,” he says. “Our diets and cooking habits mean fish counters are never going to do a tonne of business in many locations, and that’s why we see so much wastage from those counters.”Richard Hyman, an independent retail consultant, said the retreat from fresh food counters by big supermarkets represented “a raising of the white flag”. We have opened a collective consultation with those colleagues impacted and their representatives and will have conversations about any potential change with our colleagues first." Most Read Recent advances in automated hydroacoustic monitoring systems has allowed continuous monitoring for periods exceeding 18 months. These systems include intelligent monitoring and real-time data processing, ensuring proper operation and publication of status and results (e.g. fish counts) on a routine basis. A resistive counter is associated with an in-river structure, an example constituting a Crump weir. [1] The resistivity of a fish is lower than that of water. So, as fish cross this barrier, they pass embedded electrodes, and the difference in resistivity disturbs the field established in the vicinity of the electrodes, altering inter-electrode resistance. With three electrodes these disturbances can then be measured by a Wheatstone bridge, or other means, to detect the size and direction of travel of the fish.

Fish Counters | River Tweed Fish Counters | River Tweed

So if this report about Tesco is correct, it would be just another step in the journey that superstore grocers are taking to compete with the likes of Aldi and Lidl.Britain’s biggest supermarket is the only member of the current “Big Four” – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Aldi – to still offer fresh food counters, which sell deli products in 279 of its stores. But with Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s teaming up with third-party operators, the future of fresh meat and fish counters looks like it will be shared between retailer-run operations and concessions. Along with Tesco, that has prompted most of the major supermarkets to scrap deli counters in the past few years.