There are 38 feed plants in India that can manufacture shrimp feeds, with a total capacity of 3.5 million MT. In 2019, the volume of shrimp feed deals was assessed at 1.3 million MT. Andhra Pradesh represents the largest market for shrimp feed and is expected to account for 53.90% of the total shrimp feed market by 2022-23 followed by West Bengal (13.20%), Gujarat (11.0%), Tamil Nadu & Puducherry (10.50%), Odisha (7.40%) and Maharashtra (2.00%).
Mandapam Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture, Ramanathapuram
Dr. MGR Fisheries College and Research
Institute, Thalainayeru
SHRIMP FEED INDUSTRY – THE SCENARIO
India is the world’s top exporter of shrimp in terms of value, with shipments reaching US $3.5 billion from January to October 2020. The country’s shrimp farming area is around 160,000 hectares. In 2019, farmed shrimp output reached an all-time high of roughly 805,000 metric tonnes. A sizable potential area of 1.2 million hectares of brackish water is available in India, however, only 10 percent is being utilised. These vast resources are one of the key drivers catalysing the expansion of the Indian shrimp farming and feed business. The market was greatly influenced by the commercialisation of Litopenaeus vannamei (white leg shrimp), spurred by the developed and developing countries’ sustained demand. The production and export of vannamei shrimp has surpassed native shrimp species, Penaeus monodon (black tiger shrimp), which were dominant until 2003. This increased the demand for shrimp feed and the market was valued at US$ 1.05 billion in 2020. Furthermore, the availability of enhanced product variations and use of commercially manufactured shrimp feed have also helped to the industry’s growth and expansion to and fro.
There are 38 feed plants in India that can manufacture shrimp feeds, with a total capacity of 3.5 million MT. In 2019, the volume of shrimp feed deals was assessed at 1.3 million MT. Andhra Pradesh represents the largest market for shrimp feed and is expected to account for 53.90% of the total shrimp feed market by 2022-23 followed by West Bengal (13.20%), Gujarat (11.0%), Tamil Nadu & Puducherry (10.50%), Odisha (7.40%) and Maharashtra (2.00%). Protein and lipid levels in shrimp feeds manufactured in India are typically in the 32-41 percent and 5-6 percent ranges, depending on the type, such as Starter, Grower, and Finisher. Shrimp feeds contain a vast range of ingredients and additives, which are supplied by a diverse set of Indian and multinational enterprises.
SHRIMP FEED MANUFACTURERS
1. Anmol Feeds (Nouriture)
Anmol Feeds Pvt. Ltd. began operations in the animal feed industry in 2000 with a single factory in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Since then, the business has steadily grown its manufacturing capabilities and marketing channels while maintaining the highest standards of quality. Recently, in 2019, the company has launched Latis Gold (38 percent protein), a customised feed with a higher protein content designed to address recent shrimp culture difficulties.
Brand: Latis Gold
2. Avanti Feeds
Avanti Feeds is India’s leading shrimp feed company. The company has formed a joint venture with Thai Union Frozen Products PCL, one of the world’s largest seafood processors and producers of prawn and fish feed. Avanti Feeds began as a private limited business in January 1993 and eventually became a public limited corporation. The feed mill operation began in 2000. The company has 5 feed manufacturing units with a combined annual production capacity of 600,000 MT.
Brand: Manamei, Profeed 3M, Prostar, Titan
3. BMR
BMR Group has expanded in the shrimp feed market since its inception in 1991. The company has a modern feed mill that can produce 250 metric tonnes per day. BMR Group is the first vertically integrated farmed shrimp company in India to achieve four star accreditation from the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
Brand: Harvest Gold
4. Cargill Aqua Nutrition India
Since 2005, Cargill has begun supplying aquaculture feed in India through its facility in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. Cargill Aqua-Nutrition was established as a separate business entity in 2016 to deliver targeted, high-quality inputs to India’s booming aquaculture sector.
Brand: Purina
5. Charoen Pokphand India (CP India)
CPF India is a subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thai global company. CP India was founded in 1992, and the first feed mill was opened in Chennai in 1996. The company now has 6 shrimp feed mills with a 400,000 MT annual capacity.
Brand: Blanca
6. Coastal Feeds
The company started its journey in 1994 with the goal of producing low-cost shrimp feeds and transformed into a high-quality shrimp feed maker in 2019 by developing shrimp feed products in conjunction with BIOFERA LLC, USA.
Brand: Prova, Numei
7. Deepak Nexgen
Nexgen had a new era in the production of shrimp feed in 2017 by launching its new brand ‘I feed’. The company marked a sale of 100,000 MT in the year of 2019.
Brand: I feed
8. Devee Feeds
Devee feeds began operations in 2016 with a production capacity of 45,000 metric tonnes per year. Since then, the company has grown its capacity to 180,000 metric tonnes per year with two manufacturing facilities.
Brand: Devee Premium Vannamei Feed, Devee Premium Black Tiger Feed
9. Dr. Attar Aqua Feed
Dr Attar Aqua Feeds inaugurated a new feed mill in Bhiwani, Haryana in 2018, by utilising CIBA’s VanamiPlus feed technology under an MOU. With an installed production capacity of 750 kg/h, the mill can produce 8-10 metric tonnes of feed per day.
Brand: Om Prawn Feed
10. Falcon
Falcon is one of the leading producers of shrimp feeds in India since April 2017. The firm has built a 72,000 MT per annum captive shrimp feed factory in Odisha, to address domestic demand and save feed transit time. Two more feed units are planned for Gujarat.
Brand: Falcon Fresh
11. Fedora Sea Foods
Fedora Sea Foods, founded in 1990, specialises in the production of Aqua Feeds and Feed Supplements.
Brand: Spirow, Marrva
12. Godrej Agrovet Limited
Incorporated in 1991 Godrej Agrovet offers a diverse range of specially formulated feeds to fulfil the nutritional requirements of shrimps reared in Indian farming conditions.
Brand: Extavit, Hositho, Indica, White Diamond, Popular, Spark
13. Gold Coin India
One of Asia’s pioneers in manufacturing scientifically-balanced animal feed and animal nutrition, Gold Coin was established in Singapore in 1953 and spread across 11 countries. Currently, the feeds are imported to India.
Brand: Gold Supreme
14. Grobest India
Grobest Feeds Corporation (India) Ltd was established in India in 1999 with the goal of marketing imported Grobest feeds in the domestic market. The company has grown significantly since then. The year 2002 marked the beginning of the company’s production operations.
Brand: Aqua Kare, Aqua Prima, Aqua Supreme, Smart, Pacific White, Aqua Best
15. Growel Feeds
Growel Feeds is marketed by a group of seasoned and successful entrepreneurs, as well as the promoters of M/S Growel Formulations (P) Ltd, Hyderabad, which has been a leader in the manufacturing of aquaculture healthcare products since 1994. Growel’s shrimp feed facility began operations in 2014 with an annual capacity of 180,000 MT, which was raised to 188,000 MT in 2018.
Brand: Nutriva F15, Nutriva, Marigold, Tigeron, Sprint-LS
16. IB Group
Headquartered in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, the IB firm began producing extruded and pelleted shrimp feed in 2015 based on US and European technology. The overall capacity of production is 300 tonnes per day.
Brand: Abis
17. IFB Agro
IFB Agro is one of the leading processors/exporters of Indian frozen seafood segment since 19 years. The largest distributor of Shrimp and Fish Feed in West Bengal has set foot into feed business on a pilot basis.
Brand: Nutra Feed (Shrimp)
18. Ishi Marine
Ishi Marine was established in May 2014 as an exclusive feed supplier for the aquaculture industry partnering with Zeigler Feeds USA as their technology transfer partner. They are the second shrimp feed manufacturing firm in Gujarat.
Brand: Ingesta, Nanshe, Ingesta (VPAK), Hamun, Timee, Timee (VPAK)
19. Nexture Feeds
Nexture Feeds, based in Andhra Pradesh, has over eight years of service excellence and is a major manufacturer adding value to aquaculture nutrition.
Brand: Vena
20. Nexus Feeds
Nexus Feeds Ltd is a manufacturer of premium quality feeds in partnership with Taiwan’s Hanaqua. The firm is the first in India to be approved by the EIA.
Brand: Nexus Hanaqua White, Nexus Hanaqua BT
21. NG
NG Group started an advanced aqua feed manufacturing facility in technical partnership with Andritz AZ, Austria, a global pioneer in the aqua feed business.
Brand: L3.
22. Nutri Feeds
Nutri Feeds established in the year 2015 as a partnership enterprise. They are a major manufacturer of a diverse range of shrimp feeds based in Krishna, Andhra Pradesh.
Brand: Nutri Max, Nutri Rich, Nutri Eco, Nutri Ace
23. Pasupati Agrovet
The Pasupati Group began in 1982 as a tiny chicken farm in a remote area in Odisha. A completely automated shrimp feed plant was established in 2019 at the New Industrial Estate in Jagatpur, Cuttack, Odisha.
Brand: Pasupati Vannamei Shrimp Feed
24. RNK Feeds
RNK, a Rohit Kedia group company, pioneered the sector with ‘Sunny’ feed and has been active in the segment for the last six years.
Brand: Sunny, Daksh
25. Royals Marine Food
Royals Marine Food was a pioneer in 1990 when it began importing and supplying formulated shrimp feed to Indian farmers. Royals Feed is one of the most recent entrants into the shrimp feed industry with a new facility that was planned and constructed using world-class sophisticated pelleting machinery from IDAH, Taiwan. The completely automated factory now operates a single line with a daily throughput of 100 MT and an annual capacity of around 30000 MT.
Brand: Royals Vannamei, Royals BT, Royals HiSaline
26. Sandhya Marines
Sandhya Marines Ltd. was founded in 1987 and has established a reputation as a supplier of quality seafood products. The company has entered into shrimp feed segment in the year 2019.
Brand: Premium Vannamei Feed
27. Sharat Industries
Sharat Industries Limited (SIL) was founded in 1990 and is India’s oldest integrated aquaculture company. SIL began producing shrimp feed in its very own shrimp manufacturing facility with a production capacity of more than 20,000 tonnes.
Brand: Vannastar
28. Sheng Long India
Sheng Long Biotech India Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary firm of the Guang Dong Haid Group, which is a leader in the production of aquatic feed and premixes, fish and shrimp breeding, and the development of animal health products worldwide. The company established a feed mill in Tamil Nadu, which has been in operation since 2019.
Brand: Lion, Royal Dragon, Tiger
29. Skretting India
Skretting began operations in India in 2018 by importing shrimp feeds from Skretting Vietnam and distributing and selling in local markets in order to establish their products. Skretting India intends to begin feed production in Q1-2022 at a capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes per year, with a planned growth to 75,000 metric tonnes per year in phase 2.
Brand: Gamma, Lorica, White Tiger, Vitalis 2.5
30. The Waterbase Ltd.
The Waterbase Ltd., India’s first fully integrated aquaculture enterprise, was founded in 1993. It was initially established in technical collaboration with LUXE, Taiwan, a leading producer of prawn and fish feeds in the globe. The company operates two units with a combined annual capacity of 60,000 MT.
Brand: Baywhite Enriched, Ultra XL, Tiger Bay XL
31. Unibait Feeds
Unibait Feeds Pvt Ltd is a premium aqua feed company that has been in operation for more than 25 years and is promoted by experienced professionals in the aqua feed industry. The company has a technological relationship with INVIVO NSA of France.
Brand: Oshil, Orion, Imoka
32. Uni-President India
Uni-President (Vietnam) was established in 1999 in Vietnam. The company’s aquatic feed business is spread all over Asia with a yearly production of 400,000 ton. A wide variety of feeds are available for L.vannamei and P.monodon under 17 different brands based on region and type of farming practiced. One brand is imported at present. Plans are also being worked out for a feed mill setup in India.
Brand: UniVANA
33. Vijaya Saradhi Feeds
Vijaya Saradhi Feeds began the commercial feed production in 1994 using cutting-edge technology and has a production capacity of 8,000 tonnes.
Brand: Hybrid, Ned-Inde, Fast Grow, Soma Surya
CONCLUSION
Many people are involved in this sector, both directly and indirectly, and are interdependent. Feed mills primarily distribute their products through distributors and dealers. Cash or credit payments result in different feed pricing in India. Currently, the shrimp feed costs range from $1.10 to $1.40 per kg. Farmers who pay cash get a 10-15% rebate and dealers usually get a discount of 10-15% as well. Overall, the feed mill stands to gain a benefit of 10-15% from the feed sales.
References
1. Suresh, A.V. (2020). How India Became the World’s Top Shrimp Producer. Global Seafood Alliance. https://www.globalseafood.org/advocate/how-india-became-the-worlds-top-shrimp-producer/.
2. Securities and Exchange Board of India. (2018). Securities and Exchange Board of India. https://www.sebi.gov.in. Accessed Nov 11, 2021.
About R. Dinesh
Dinesh has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aquaculture at the Mandapam Centre for Sustainable (MCeSA) of Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU), India since 2021. He undertakes strategic and applied research in the field of Mariculture, offering extension services to farmers as well. Dinesh completed his Master’s degree in Fisheries Science with a special focus on Aquaculture at the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) and his undergraduate studies at TNJFU. His research interests lie in Aquaculture and Aquaculture Nutrition. Before joining academics, he was directly involved with the shrimp production industry for five years, working with different corporates. He has won prestigious awards and has authored several books and peer-reviewed articles. Dinesh serves as a reviewer for high impact journals and he’s a member of various professional and academic societies.
About V. Durai
V. Durai works as an Assistant Professor at Dr. MGR Fisheries College and Research Institute, Nagapattinam, India. He earned his Master of Fisheries Science (MFSc) degree from Fisheries College and Research Institute, Thoothukkudi. He also completed an MBA (HR) at Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore. Prior to joining, he spent 17 years in sales and marketing at CPF India Pvt Ltd, where he was involved in a variety of aquaculture-related activities.
