US-based seafood importer Delta Blue Aquaculture is putting renewed focus on the European market for its peeled shrimp products as the global seafood industry descends on Brussels for its biggest showcase event.

“We are re-engaging into the European market on the peeled side,” Delta Blue vice president of sales and operations Bill Hoenig told IntraFish in a wide ranging interview.

The Tuscon-based company previously shipped peeled product to Europe from its Belize operations before they were shut down.

In the United States, the company’s business is roughly equally split between retail, foodservice and processors.

Over recent years Hoenig has noted an increasing shift away from headless shrimp products, where margins are low to non-existent, and value is difficult to add. Head-on shrimp, meanwhile, attracts a 10-15 percent premium.

Against a background of abundant availability, the shrimp market is not an easy place to operate these days. Prices of vannamei shrimp hit rock bottom a year ago and have remained low ever since.

With production increasing in every major farming country, prices are expected to stay at current levels or slip lower at least through the end of the year, industry sources say.

Double-digit growth

Despite this, Delta Blue expects to see "modest" double-digit growth in 2019 helped by demand from the smaller and more nimble independent restaurants and chains in the US foodservice sector and by seeking out opportunities in the supply of value-added products.

To achieve this the company says it puts an emphasis on the certification side of the business and awareness of consumer demands, such as food safety and convenience.

“If we are not adding value, all we are doing is adding cost and that’s not a good place to be,” Hoenig said, adding that in his view the key to long term survival in the aquaculture business is aversion to risk.

“Make par and move on and every now and again if you hit a birdie that’s great," he said.

Delta Blue sources shrimp from Mexico, Honduras and Ecuador in Latin America.

Besides shipping to the continually growing Chinese market, Delta Blue exports product to Taiwan, and is involved in the Mexican market.

The executive said it is going to be interesting to see what happens this year in China with shrimp prices down around $1 (€0.89)/kilo this year.

“They have figured out that they represent 60-65 percent of Ecuadorian production and that everybody is coming to them as the market setters for head-on shrimp. They are squeezing these price [decreases] through," Hoenig added.

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Delta Blue Aquaculture targets EU peeled shrimp market