Durán, Ecuador-headquartered shrimp processor and exporter Empacreci is evaluating whether to pursue the export of live shrimp in an attempt to further penetrate the U.S. market, Empacreci Packaging Manager Daniel Crespo told SeafoodSource.
“Our main market is Europe, but the United States has a strong representation of our exports as well, making up about 30 percent,” he said.
Empacreci has made several moves over the past few years to be more attracttive in markets like the U.S., such as bolstering its value-added offerings via a state-of-the-art plant that has been operating for three years.
“That added value is in the different types of cuts, as well as freezing and [meeting other] market demands that have been changing,” Crespo said.
Empacreci owns 200 hectares of shrimp farms in Ecuador, Crespo explained, but it also has turned to third parties to purchase shrimp for processing. To ensure a more steady, reliable supply, the company has established a partnership with fellow shrimp farmer, Brito Group, which has 3,000 hectares of shrimp production with an annual harvest of 45 million pounds of shrimp.
“That partnership has allowed us to strengthen our offer because now we’re able to get shrimp faster,” Crespo said. “Previously, we could have issues when a customer would contact us and ask for a specific size; sometimes, we would have to wait two or three days to get it. Now, with this agreement, we can achieve that quickly and fill the orders in the time that the customer needs.”
With this infrastructure now in place, Empacreci is now weighing whether to add live shrimp to its portfolio of offerings.
According to Volza's Global Import data, the world currently imports most of its live shrimp from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The three main importing countries of that live shrimp are Japan, the United States, and Vietnam.
Globally, a total of 8,984 shipments of live shrimp were imported from March 2023 to February 2024, surging 65 percent when compared to the previous 12 months, Volza reported.
“The United States market is making a lot of progress; I understand that they are also interested in importing [more] live shrimp. It is a trend that is already being managed here locally,” Crespo said. “We have not yet ventured into that market, but we are also analyzing and looking into it because that’s where the market is going and customers may ask for it at any moment. So, we're trying to strengthen ourselves in that area as well.”
One reason why Empacreci is attempting to further court the U.S. is …
