To combat falling global demand for shrimp, prominent industry players are pushing for a collaborative marketing campaign to boost consumption.
The strategies and logistics of establishing a unified global marketing campaign were at the forefront of discussions at the 2023 Shrimp Summit, held by The Center for Responsible Seafood in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City from 24 to 26 July.
A 26 July panel brought together representatives from the shrimp industries in the U.S., India, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and Peru.
Allan Cooper, the business and value creation director at Vitapro, a South America-based feed producer, highlighted the substantial growth in the global shrimp production in recent years, especially in Ecuador. But due to a variety of factors, primarily inflation, the industry is confronting a downturn in demand that is adversely affecting all stakeholders along the shrimp value chain, from farmers to producers and retailers.
“We're looking at cycles that come back and forth. And some people say producing shrimp, being a part of the shrimp industry, is like riding a roller coaster, in a really, really uncertain environment. But how can we prevent the cycle?” Cooper said.
The industry needs to “make the people that eat shrimp eat more” and “incentivize newcomers to try shrimp” by launching a unified global marketing campaign, Cooper said.
Cooper noted historical successes of joint marketing efforts in various sectors, such as avocados, eggs, milk, and beef, as potential models the shrimp industry can learn from.
Citing data from independent studies from various universities, he said joint marketing campaigns have actually translated into profits for businesses in the respective industries. Demand-enhancing campaigns aimed at encouraging milk consumption in the U.S. resulted a producer profit increase of USD 4.78 (EUR 4.35) for each dollar invested. Similarly, the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" campaign led to the rise of between 14 and 15 percent in the per capita beef consumption in the U.S. since its launch in 1992 and generated nearly USD 12.00 (EUR 10.90) in profit for every extra dollar that the producers invested between 2014 and 2018. Successful efforts to enhance egg consumption in Australia have brought about good results, with per capita consumption rising by 14 eggs per annum following the campaign. Similarly, per capita avocado consumption in the U.S. in 2020 rose to 7.5 pounds, from 2 pounds in 2002, when Hass Avocado Board began its promotional campaign.
“No, it's not easy. No, it's not fast. But we see what these types of programs can bring to the different industries. And it's definitely something that with the panel, we have like thought of considering of how this could apply for the shrimp industry,” Cooper said. “Is the global shrimp industry ready to expand the market?”
Sandro Coglitore , the general manager of Ecuadorian shrimp producer Omarsa, said he backs a global shrimp marketing campaign.
“I think in Ecuador, most of the exporters and farmers are ready to engage into a unified campaign, not only to promote Ecuadorian shrimp but shrimp worldwide and expand the demand,” Sandro said. “And I think it's a matter of responsibility for the exporters, the farmers associations to really get together and start putting the seed money for this and put something on the horizon towards starting this because we could have started in 2018. We didn't, now it's 2023. Probably prices recovered in a couple of months. And then we forget about it and we will be discussing the same thing in a forum in 2025.”
Travis Larkin, the CEO of U.S. shrimp importer Seafood Exchange, said that after a discussion in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 2018, a group was established in the U.S. for the marketing purpose. But the initiative was finally unable to move forward because the participants in that group only comprised importers, retailers, and distributors in the U.S., and did not represent all the actors involved in shrimp production.
“So my lesson from that is this is really something that should happen at the producer level, at least the organization and the financing. And if all of you that are farming, processing, and shipping it to the United States can get together, we can work with you to put together an organization that would manage the marketing and the campaigns, with your support. And those of us in the U.S. will all benefit from increased sales and increased demand,” Larkin said.
Sandro said "market realities” will result in falling vannemei production in Ecuador in the second half of 2023.
Kontali Lead Shrimp Analyst Sander Visch said Ecuador has exported an additional volume of 51,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp thus far in 2023 up 14 percent year on year. The increased supply has put more pressure on prices, with the average farm-gate rate for 40-50 count falling to USD 2.8.0 (EUR 2.50) per kilogram in July from USD 4.10 (EUR 3.70) per kilogram in April 2022.
In contrast, export volumes thus far in 2023 from Asia have dived Vietnam has produced 32 percent less shrimp, Indonesia’s exports are down 13 percent, and in Thailand, exports are down 9.4 percent year over year, according to Visch.
Photo by Toan Dao/SeafoodSource
