Surging Fish and Shellfish Industry Celebrates Sweet Success : Shrimp Makes Biggest Waves at Sea Fare ’86

After having spent decades as a mere afterthought on the national food scene, the seafood industry can now savor the adoration of consumers, nutritionists and restaurateurs alike.

The resulting high spirits were especially evident at Sea Fare ‘86, a recently concluded, three-day convention devoted to all aspects of the business, held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Most of the 300 exhibitors were content to savor the recognition being lavished on the vast array of fish and shellfish species on view for the more than 5,000 in attendance. Yet, despite the popularity of virtually all foods from the sea, one item received a disproportionate amount of attention and was unmistakably in a class by itself.

“There is no question about it. Shrimp is No. 1,” said Frank Riggio, vice president of Bee Gee Shrimp Co. of Lakeland, Fla., while stationed in front of his firm’s booth--a popular location, particularly when another large batch of butterflied fried shrimp was emptied into a generous serving bowl to provide free samples.

An Insatiable Appetite

Riggio was not overstating the situation out of loyalty to his firm. Americans have an insatiable appetite for shrimp and the increasing fondness has made the curly crustacean the top-selling seafood in this country for the last 20 years.

“Shrimp are the darling of the seafood industry,” said Ernest Wayland, executive vice president of Crest International Corp. of San Diego. “It’s where the action is. They’re the fastest-moving commodity in a fast-moving market.”

Underscoring the popularity are analysts who estimate that per capita consumption in the United States reached record levels of 2.5 pounds per person during 1985. This figure is up a substantial 56% from 1974, when the consumption rate was only 1.4 pounds. Consumers were able to savor more shrimp than ever before because about 600 million pounds were sold in this country last year alone.

This unyielding demand has made the buying and selling of shrimp as competitive and risk-filled a venture as anything on the commodity exchanges. The gambles are particularly high because the U.S. shrimp boat fleet’s share of the market has been decreasing since the 1970s. Today, domestic supplies constitute only 35% of all shrimp consumed in this country, forcing brokers to increasingly depend upon unpredictable foreign sources.

In fact, last year’s imports, a record total of 359 million pounds, came to this nation from more than 60 countries from around the globe, according to William D. Chauvin, publisher of a New Orleans-based shrimp industry newsletter.

The numerous supply sources have also contributed to the fact that there is no one dominant firm in the shrimp business as wholesalers scramble to obtain the product. The nature of the industry has also precluded the emergence of a well-known national brand.

So the question of who has the most shrimp at the best price throughout the year was one that seafood buyers from both restaurants and supermarkets were eager to discover while perusing the exhibit hall.

Though quick to celebrate this shellfish, most suppliers bemoaned the fact that profits are so slight while potential losses can be staggering.

“Any sane person would not even look at selling shrimp (as a business),” said Ernest Y. Doizaki, president of American Fish & Seafood Co. in Los Angeles. “The potential (wholesale) profit is only 10 to 15 cents a pound. Compare that with a downside risk that ranges from between 50 cents and $1.50 a pound. One year we lost $1 a pound on three truckloads of the stuff, and that was in 1977 dollars. At that point, we got out of shrimp in a major way.”

Another supplier readily admitted that profits can be slim, but a razor-thin margin can often be overcome by tremendous sales volume.

“There certainly are times when we have to eat our losses,” said Ed Monette, of Clouston Foods in Gloucester, Mass. “These are really stock market conditions . . . but the risk is worth it.”

At least for now, Monette could afford to be bullish because his company recently posted shrimp sales increases of between 35% and 40% during the last 18 months. The firm claims to be the nation’s second-leading distributor of the shellfish.

In order to protect their companies from being too susceptible to wild swings in shrimp prices, most brokers also offer a number of other seafood items. One such operation, Aptco Inc. of San Francisco, hedges its bets by selling squid.

“(Squid) is a cheaper item that everyone can afford,” said Gilbert Oei, Aptco president, who was decidedly unenthusiastic until the topic turned to shrimp. “You’ve got to know this game. But when you’re in it as long as I’ve been, then you become an addict for the (shrimp) business.”

The unpredictability of supplies and prices is a problem that not only affects the wholesalers but is also a potential nightmare for supermarket and restaurant chains. Denny’s Restaurants Inc. is currently relying on at least four different sources to provide the three million pounds of shrimp the company will sell to customers during its current seafood promotion.

Janet Simmons, a seafood buyer for Denny’s, stated that the shrimp dinner special, with as many as 18 of the shellfish per serving, could be one of the largest ever attempted by the restaurant chain.

“It’s very critical not to run into a supply problem,” she said. “But shortages are more common than I would like to see.”

The demand for shrimp has grown to such an extent that most experts believe fishermen are netting as much of the shellfish from the sea as possible. The expansion in supplies in recent years has been the exclusive result of successful aquaculture ventures or fish farms in Ecuador, Panama, Taiwan, the Philippines and elsewhere.

In fact, Wayland predicts that within four years the leading shrimp importer to the United States will be Ecuador, whose product is virtually all farm grown.

While many of the sales representatives at Sea Fare ’86 have no problem discussing the rationale for continuing in the shrimp business, there were all sorts of conflicting explanations offered as to why Americans are so fond of this crustacean.

For Special Occasions

Riggio said that shrimp have acquired an air of romance because most people can only afford them on special occasions. This love affair will continue, he said, even as more supplies become available from the proliferating farms and the prices begin dropping thus distancing shrimp from its luxury image.

Steve Harmell, of Ore-Cal Corp. in Los Angeles, said it is shrimp’s versatility that attracts so many consumers who appreciate the fact that it can be fried, boiled, baked, microwaved, etc., etc.

Pete Whipperman, a San Francisco-based chef who was helping to promote Aptco shrimp, said, “Hey, it’s the flavor and the texture. They’re the No. 1 seafood--they’re mini lobsters. The texture is elastic, resilient--the flavor’s great.”

Possibly the most perceptive comment came from Doizaki, who said that the reason shrimp are so popular is that they do not taste, nor smell, like fish. Actually, he thinks they’re tasteless.

“The American consumer is stupid to spend that kind of money for protein,” he said.