A quote for "frozen shrimp, 31/40, 10kg" can describe at least four different products, and the price gap between them is larger than most buyers expect. Product form decides how much of the carton is shrimp, how much is shell, and how much is ice. Before comparing two offers from Vietnam, I make sure both are quoting the same form.
The five forms and what they cost you
HOSO (head-on, shell-on) is the whole shrimp, frozen as caught or harvested. Count sizes are quoted per kilogram or per pound of whole animal, and the head is roughly a third of the weight. A HOSO price per kilo looks low, but the edible yield after peeling is the lowest of any form. Buyers who sell whole shrimp in Asian retail or restaurant channels use it; buyers who re-process do the arithmetic and usually move to headless.
HLSO (headless, shell-on) is the workhorse. The head is removed, the shell stays on, and the shrimp is graded by pieces per pound: 16/20, 21/25, 26/30, 31/40, 41/50 are the standard bands. Most of the vannamei I see moving to European and Japanese importers is HLSO or a processed form made from it. It is the form to use as the baseline when comparing quotes.
PUD (peeled, undeveloped) has shell removed but the vein left in. PD (peeled and deveined) removes the vein as well, and PDTO / PTO leaves the last tail segment on. The more steps, the higher the labor cost and the lower the finished weight, so the price per kilo rises even when the raw material price does not. In practice the choice between PUD and PD is a market-access question: some retail and foodservice specifications require deveined product, and some Asian buyers prefer PUD because the extra handling is not paid for.
Cooked shrimp, usually peeled and cooked in a steam or boiling line and then frozen, is a different category with different risks. Cooking adds a microbiological control point and a yield loss, and the count is quoted on the cooked weight. Check which weight the quote is based on.
Count size is only half the specification
Counts are pieces per pound (or per kilogram, which gives different numbers, so confirm the unit). A band such as 31/40 allows a wide spread inside the carton. If a buyer needs a uniform pack for presentation, I ask for a tighter band or a stated maximum variance, and I accept that the price per kilo goes up. Mixed counts inside one carton are a common source of complaints on arrival, and most of them trace back to a spec that only gave the band name.
Glaze and net weight
Glaze is the thin ice coat applied after freezing to protect the product from dehydration. The cost to the buyer is simple: you pay shrimp price for the ice if the contract does not separate them.
A common industry convention is to state net weight excluding glaze, with a declared glaze level in the range of 10 to 20 percent of gross weight for block and IQF packs. Vietnamese plants that sell to EU and Japan buyers generally work to net-weight-after-deglaze terms, and the buyer has the deglaze test done at arrival or pre-shipment. What I put into a contract:
- Net weight is stated after deglaze, not including ice.
- Maximum glaze percentage is written as a number, with the test method named.
- A tolerance on pieces per pound is written as a number, not as "approximately".
- Packing form is stated: IQF in a poly bag inside a master carton, or block frozen with a stated block weight.
Soaking and moisture
Chemical soaking is the other place where weight can be added without adding shrimp. Phosphate treatment retains water in the flesh and raises the weight, and it can lower texture quality after cooking. For buyers selling premium or branded products, the specification should say whether phosphate-treated product is acceptable and what moisture limit applies. A plant working to EU standards will have a documented position on this; if it cannot answer in writing, treat that as a finding.
What I advise buyers to do
Ask every supplier to quote the same form, count band, glaze level, and net weight basis, and put those four items on one line of the quotation. Then compare prices. If two offers differ by a few percent and one has a different form or glaze, they are not comparable offers.
For first orders, I arrange a pre-shipment inspection that includes a deglaze test and a count check on a sample of cartons from different pallets. The inspection fee is small against the cost of a rejected container, and the results give you a reference for the next order. I source on a buyer-side commission disclosed upfront, so the specification is written for the buyer's use, not the factory's convenience.
Sourcing frozen shrimp from Vietnam?
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