Asia's production crisis gives opening for Ecuador's organic shrimp

Organic shrimp farmers in Ecuador are reporting increased interest for their products on the back of Asia's ongoing supply crisis -- especially from Europe, and Asia itself.

The market shortage and continued demand means that normal shrimp prices are closing up to prices for organic shrimp -- a double-edged sword.

There is still a premium but "prices are more competitive now than before," Sandro Coglitore, general manager at Ecuadorian shrimp producer Omarsa, told IntraFish. But the "premium is no longer inaccessible."

Javier Barragan, managing director at BioCentinela, concurred with Coglitore, saying prices for organic shrimp usually settle at a 25 percent premium to conventional shrimp but the gap has shrunk to about 5 percent today.

Demand