IDC partners with STC to bring first batch of white shrimps on the market |27 April 2023
Mr Govinden and Ms Lafortune
By Sunny Esparon
The Islands Development Company Ltd (IDC) will be handing over 650 kilogrammes of white shrimps to the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) hypermarket for sale to the public starting today, April 27, 2023.
The shrimps come in 400g and 800g boxes, with the prices varying from R96 to R294 according to the sizes.
Speaking at the IDC headquarters yesterday, the company’s public relations manager, Michael Govinden, stated that IDC received two tonnes of white shrimps from Coetivy, with one tonne being distributed towards certain hotels that took interest in it, and one tonne that went through processing.
La Digue will be getting 101kg through IDC directly as L’Union Estate put in a request directly.
The first batch at STC hypermarket will not be enough to meet the public demand as the project is still in the ‘trial phase’. The second batch is already in preparation and will be delivered in July.
“The supply will still be irregular until the end of the year when the white shrimp project will be in full swing,” Mr Govinden stated.
He added that IDC is confident it can meet the demand for white shrimps in 2024.
Praslin will be receiving their batch in the next one that will be distributed in July due to them not reaching out earlier.
The public relations manager for STC, Stephanie Lafortune, announced that there will be a restriction placed on the buying of white shrimp to allow as many customers as possible to get a chance to buy it as the supplies cannot meet the demand.
The public can purchase the product at STC hypermarket with two boxes per person.
“We are urging our customers to think about other people when buying the shrimps,” Ms Lafortune stated.
In the 400g box, there will be two sizes for the white shrimps, with the smallest costing R96 and the biggest will be R126. In the 800g box, the smallest size will be R252 and the biggest will be R294. Further logistics will be announced to customers via a notice.
Mr Govinden however noted that the experiment was not a huge success like IDC was expecting, due to the mortality rate during cultivation. IDC is working with the supplier from Singapore to figure out what is happening so that the next batch does not suffer the same fate.
IDC is also planning to establish a hatchery on Coetivy to guarantee that there is more control on the mortality rate and to eventually stop importing the small white shrimps and breed it locally.
The pricing for production and investment means that the price the white shrimps are being sold at will not allow IDC to make any profit while the operation is still in the trial phase. It is only when the operation is fully up and running that IDC will begin to make a profit.
Mr Govinden stated that IDC chose STC as the retailer due to the fact that both companies share the same objectives, which is to bring the product to the public at an affordable price.
Both IDC and STC are urging customer feedback regarding the freshness, quality and other aspects of the shrimps.
Photos by Joena Meme
