Shrimp starter feed: small tonnage, high consequence
Shrimp starter feed covers the first pond weeks after stocking, from small crumbles up to the first grower pellet size. Tonnage is modest but the stage sets survival and uniformity, so buyers specify particle-size steps, water stability, shelf life and batch documentation rather than buying on price per tonne.
Who buys at this stage
- Vannamei farms stocking post-larvae directly to pond without a nursery
- Farms buying starter separately from a specialist mill and grower locally
- Buyers planning the first weeks of a cycle before committing the full feed volume
Form and packaging
- Particle-size steps with the shrimp weights they correspond to
- Water stability requirement stated in minutes and how it is verified
- Sealed 25 kg bags with production date and shelf life on every unit
Commercial feed types
Crumbles
Graded sizes for the first pond weeks; state the size range and acceptable fines.
Small sinking pellets
Stepped up as shrimp grow; changeover weights should be agreed in writing.
What the RFQ must specify
- Post-larvae stocked, pond area and expected survival
- Days on starter and size steps required
- Water stability requirement
- Quantity per shipment and committed annual volume
- Delivery point, port and preferred Incoterm
- Delivery schedule and acceptable lead time
- Packaging and pallet or bulk handling constraints
- Certifications and documents required with each shipment
- Currency, price basis and how long the price must hold
What moves the cost
- Marine ingredient and attractant pricing
- Small-batch production and screening cost at the mill
- Freight and duties measured against a small tonnage
- Shelf life, which caps how much you can order at once
Storage and shelf life
- Buy in small, frequent lots — starter should not sit through a cycle
- Sealed, cool, dry storage off the floor; humidity is the main risk
- Rotate strictly by production date
Certifications and documents to ask for
- GMP+ B1 / FAMI-QS or an equivalent feed safety scheme
- HACCP plan and the mill's own quality manual
- Certificate of analysis per batch (proximate analysis, moisture)
- Mycotoxin, salmonella and heavy-metal testing regime
- Traceability of raw materials and batch numbering
- Non-GMO, halal or organic certification where your market requires it
- Country-specific feed registration and import documentation
Supplier evaluation checklist
- Installed capacity against your monthly tonnage, not just the annual total
- Evidence of supplying the same stage and pellet form commercially
- Batch consistency record and how out-of-spec batches are handled
- Lead time from order to delivery, and behaviour during raw-material volatility
- Price basis: fixed, indexed to a named raw material, or reviewed periodically
- Delivery capability to your point, Incoterm and vehicle or vessel constraints
- Technical support available on-site and the escalation route when results slip
Worked commercial example
Illustrative arithmetic on the inputs shown — not a benchmark, a price or a performance promise. Replace every figure with your own.
- · 10 ha of ponds, 40 PL/m², 2 cycles a year
- · First 30 days on starter, ≈ 8% of cycle feed volume
- · Cycle feed sized at 420 t per cycle by the shrimp feed calculator
- → Starter volume ≈ 34 t per cycle, ≈ 67 t a year
- → At 1,400 per tonne delivered ≈ 47,000 per cycle
- → Deliveries every 10 days keep the store small and the feed fresh
Size the volume first
Other shrimp stages
Questions buyers ask
How much starter feed does a pond need?
Why buy starter separately?
Does FeedMatch guarantee survival?
How the request is handled
You submit the requirement, a person at FeedMatch reviews it, and only then are qualified suppliers approached on your behalf. Offers come back normalised to the same delivered basis so they can actually be compared. No supplier receives your details automatically and no introduction happens without that review.
Submit a feed project requestFeedMatch Group is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. We are not a feed manufacturer, trader, nutritionist, veterinarian or lender, and we do not guarantee prices, supply, FCR or animal performance. Figures on this page are indicative commercial planning ranges, not specifications. Every requirement is reviewed by a person before any supplier is approached, and no supplier receives your details automatically. Last reviewed 16 September 2026.