Bidding Up Shrimp

To the true Japanese gourmet, one of life's sweetest pleasures is savoring the dying wriggle of a freshly peeled live shrimp on the tongue. Cooked or raw, the shrimp has for centuries occupied a place of honor in Japan's pantheon of epicurean ecstasies. Lately, however, that wriggly national hero has become a mere prawn in the hands of Japanese commercial interests. Because of huge Japanese demand, shrimp prices round the world are jumping.

Dear Delicacy. Importers, seafood dealers and at least one textile firm in Japan are rushing to buy unprecedented quantities of shrimp on world markets--about 23% more in 1971 than 1970. Japan imports nearly two-thirds of the 69,000 tons consumed there annually. Since the U.S. imports about half of its own yearly 140,000 tons, the two commercial superpowers must bid against each other for shrimp from such places as Brazil, Mexico and West Africa. "The Japanese are paying 25% more than the market," says Irving Farber, president of New Jersey's Continental Seafoods.

As a result, shrimp prices in the U.S. rose 20% to 40% during 1971. Large shrimp that retailed in Manhattan a year ago for $2.50 per Ib. are now $3.25. Jim Mahoney, general manager of Miami's Gorton Shrimp Products, predicts that shrimp may become one of the U.S.'s costliest delicacies. "Shrimp people laughed when lobster went to $4 a pound," he says, "but for shrimp that's not too farfetched now."

Six-Inch Pinch. Shrimp lovers in America are not the worst hurt victims of price rise. Japanese consumers are paying dearly for their crush on crustaceans: up to 58-c- each for jumbo six-inchers. Yet sales are increasing by 20% a year, partly because Japanese personal incomes have been rising.

The international monetary upheaval also accelerated the great shrimp rush. Before the new currency rates were set, the Japanese wanted to get rid of some of their huge supply of U.S. dollars and used them to buy shrimp on world markets. Now that the yen is worth more in terms of "old" dollars--17% more when revaluation is completed--trading greenbacks for shrimp has become an even better bargain. Whether or not the shrimp is sounder than the dollar, the fact is that shrimp can be stockpiled safely for more than a year, and they are always in tremendous demand in Japan. Their appeal is so great that the Japanese are pouring millions of yen into ventures to develop shrimp industries in India, Southeast Asia and Africa. If such projects pay off, the current run-up in international shrimp prices could be merely a temporary phenomenon.

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