8.4 International opportunities and general marketing strategy

The international marketing of freshwater prawns, which (except in the case of the largest farms) would be made through intermediary seafood processing companies, is outside the scope of this manual. When the first FAO manual on freshwater prawn farming was writ ten there were very few opportunities for export; now, freshwater prawns are beginning to become a global commodity.

Macrobrachium is commonplace in the supermarkets of Europe and the USA and is widely used in the restaurant trade. It is therefore important for you to realize that there are now significant opportunities

 

Figure 100
Supermarkets sell Macrobrachium rosenbergii in Europe (France)

SOURCE: DENIS LACROIX

for exporting your product, if it is of export quality (Figure 100).
Information on the global market for freshwater prawns can be obtained through the GLOBEFISH Databank run by the FAO Fish Utiliza tion and Marketing Service (http://www.globefish.org) The development of marketing strategies and plans for freshwater prawns is covered in Phillips and Lacroix (2000) and a number of case studies are presented. That publication also contains many recipes for preparing meals containing Macrobrachium; good knowledge about the proper prepa ration of this species before consumption is thought to be very important to generate a good consumer image of the product. This is especially important in countries where Macrobrachium is not indigenous and there is no tradition in its cooking. A range of farm gate and retail prices for freshwater prawns in several countries is provided in New (2000b).