Shrimp industry seeks to strengthen its exports to the retail segment of the United States and Canada

A delegation of North American buyers visited Songa, Omarsa and Grupo Almar to verify the production process of Ecuadorian shrimp

The Ecuadorian shrimp industry seeks to open the market in theretail(retail) from the United States and Canada, where so far in 2022 - in the case of the United States - exports have grown 35% compared to the first half of 2021, becoming the second most important market after China . Meanwhile, in 2021 that market received around 406 million pounds, which generated an increase of 56% compared to 2020.

Meanwhile, to promote this purpose, companies in the sector received a visit last Tuesday and Wednesday from a delegation of 20 representatives of supermarket chains and companies.food servicewho arrived in Guayaquil for the “Shrimp Seminar”, which was organized by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Ecuadorian initiative Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP).

Galapagos National Society (Songa), Omarsa and Almar, a group of aquaculture companies dedicated to larviculture and shrimp production, were the establishments where buyers confirmed quality, social and environmental responsibility standards required by ASC certification, in each stage of the production cycle.

The first company to be visited was Songa, which processes 400 tons of shrimp daily, exports and sells directly to supermarkets in Asia, the United States, Europe and Latin America. Since 2014, they are the first Ecuadorian exporter of shrimp to the United States.

Meanwhile, José Antonio Lince, executive president of Grupo Almar and member of the SSP, highlighted the importance of the visit of North American buyers to Ecuador.

“The fact that important buyers, among the most demandingretailersfrom the United States, have set their eyes on Ecuador and have decided to come and see first-hand what our practices are and what are the reasons why Ecuador produces the best shrimp in the world, it is something that undoubtedly speaks very well of our industry. and it will generate a very important impact on the commercial efforts that we have been making to serve this market,” said Lince, during the visit to the shrimp ponds of the Almar Group, which by 2025 seeks to be world leaders in sustainable aquaculture.

For his part, Sandro Coglitore, general manager of Omarsa, showed international businessmen the advantages, benefits and differences that exist in Ecuadorian shrimp production compared to other competing countries. The buyers visited two shrimp processing plants located in the Durán canton.

Coglitore indicated that the local shrimp industry seeks to ensure that the quality of Ecuadorian shrimp is transmitted to consumers, so that a better differentiated price is obtained compared to the competition from Southeast Asia and India, and to highlight Ecuador's position as a world leader in the shrimp production and export.

According to figures from the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), in 2021, Ecuador's production was more than 2,267 million pounds of shrimp and it exported around 1,855 million pounds, which represented nearly $5,078 million in foreign currency. for the country. That year, Ecuador was ranked as the world's largest shrimp producer, according to a ranking home specialized magazine Aquaculture.

In theranking,Ecuador leads the list of the largest shrimp producers in 2021, followed by China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, South America, Mexico, Central America, the United States and Europe.

“Ecuador has to start opening markets in the retail", the supermarket segment, of mass distribution," said the general manager of Omarsa, which since 1977 has been dedicated to the cultivation, processing and export of sustainable shrimp and currently has 3,748 hectares of crustacean crops.

In 2021, Omarsa, the second largest shrimp exporter in the country, sold $690,907,678 by exporting 247,205,828 pounds of shrimp to more than 45 destinations.

Meanwhile, José Antonio Camposano, president of the CNA, assured that the first country in the world to certify shrimp farming under the ACS standard was Ecuador.

Camposano hopes that the buyers' visit will result in more sales of Ecuadorian shrimp to those destinations.