Over the last five years the market for black tiger shrimp has changed. While it used to be a mainstream product in the retail and food service industry, its markets have shifted, making it a niche product. The main reason for this shift is the broader availability of Pacific white shrimp, which has a better price competition. Another factor is the shift in demand for more sustainable certified seafood, which not all black tiger products can fulfil. However, black tiger shrimp is often recognised as a premium product because of its distinctive colour, taste, texture and bigger size and therefore is often demanded in niche markets.

1. Product description

Black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is part of the Penaediae family. Contrary to the Pacific white shrimp, black tiger is native to Southeast Asia and Africa. However, most Southeast Asian countries switched to farming Pacific white shrimp in the late 90’s due to disease, and producing black tiger shrimp became less popular. Black tiger shrimp is available in wild-caught and as farmed varieties. This product fact sheet focuses on the market for farmed black tiger shrimp. The European market for wild-caught shrimp, including wild-caught Penaeus monodon, which is normally referred to as sea tiger, is discussed in our study.

Black tiger shrimp is mostly imported into Europe as a final product, packed and ready to be distributed in the frozen segments of supermarkets or food service wholesale stores. Contrary to Pacific white shrimp, black tiger shrimp is rarely imported as a bulk product for Europe’s domestic processing industry. There might be some exceptions, especially in the United Kingdom, but also in Northwestern Europe. Some importers have their own processing facilities to reprocess small volumes of imported black tiger shrimp blocks into refreshed products.

2. What makes Europe an interesting market for farmed black tiger shrimp?

In 2020, Europe imported an estimated USD 278 million of Black tiger shrimp under the different HS-codes. In volume, Europe’s Black tiger shrimp imports in 2020 totalled approximately 35,000 tonnes, 25% lower than 2019. This drop is significant and can partly be explained by the COVID-19 situation in Europe, as the foodservice sector was reduced significantly. But the amount of Black tiger shrimp has seen a downward trend over the last years as Pacific white shrimp, which is produced and traded at a lower price point, has taken over the mainstream market. Black tiger shrimp has since become a niche product in the food service and retail markets.

European consumers eat almost 25 kg of fish and seafood per capita a year. According to a recent study of the European Commission, shrimp accounts for 6% of the total European fish and seafood consumption, about 1.5 kg per person. The European Union estimates that 62% of that shrimp comes from the wild and 38% from aquaculture, of which approximately 85% to 90% consists of Pacific white shrimp and about 10% of black tiger shrimp. Black tiger shrimp, represents only a minor portion of the European shrimp consumption and is considered a niche product. As a black tiger shrimp supplier, you have a premium product that has a place in high-end and Asian wholesale markets, as well as some pockets of the retail market in North Western Europe.

Most shrimp imported into Europe is consumed in Southern Europe. The annual per capita consumption of shrimp is almost 3 kg in Spain, 2 kg in Portugal and 1.5 kg in France. The Southern European market is historically linked to South and Central America, so it is rare to see farmed black tiger shrimp in the market there. Instead, black tiger shrimp, mainly produced in Asia and in Madagascar, is mainly consumed in Northwestern Europe and France.

Despite being a niche product, black tiger shrimp is the third most common exotic shrimp imported into the European market. Most common is farmed Pacific white shrimp at approximately US$2 billion in import value, followed by wild-caught Argentinian red shrimp at US$587 million. While Pacific white shrimp is popular because of its price, black tiger shrimp is chosen because of its unique colour, taste, texture and larger sizes.