Too much shrimp, not enough demand: US shrimp farm pioneer frozen out by cheap imports

Robins McIntosh has an unusual problem: his company’s indoor shrimp farm in the United States is “working too well.”

Homegrown Shrimp, owned by Thai conglomerate CP Foods, has been forced to freeze or sell off much of its production since launching last year as a supplier of fresh shrimp to the Florida market. It has proven difficult, said McIntosh, to wean consumers off cheaper imported shrimp.

“Our timing couldn't have been worse,” he laughs. “When we were under construction, it was COVID and inflation, the contractor couldn't find materials, there were logistical problems.