Businessman Anthony Pellegrino set another first when his Saipan SyAqua Aquaculture began exporting fresh chilled shrimps to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy commissaries in Guam last month.
The China Town shrimp farm's operations manager, Rommel G. Catalma, said they shipped 100 lbs of shrimp last Dec. 16, followed a week later by another 100-lb. order to the Orote Naval Base and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.
“We started out with 100 lbs and we plan to slowly increase that. It was a test case. In three days we almost sold out and we had to use some for our demos there and then after a few days we shipped another 100 lbs,” Catalma said in a recent interview with the Saipan Tribune.
He said Saipan SyAqua is selling the fresh chilled shrimps for $11.95 per lb., compared to Saipan prices, which are $8 per lbs. for the big-sized variety.
Catalma said the reason behind the higher cost of their product in Guam is the shipping as freight alone is almost a dollar a pound.
“Right now we're starting to feel the market, the demand, how often do we have to ship, so we're still ironing out all the logistical problems. We're expecting to go up to the level of 3,000 lbs or more per month.”
Pellegrino, for his part, said penetrating the Guam military commissaries was no picnic.
“Back in August a friend of mine suggested we export our shrimps there. We started to do some research and had to get approval from the military. There were a lot of paperwork. We had to welcome a veterinarian here last December from the military to inspect our facilities. They were very pleased. We were inspected twice by the military as to cleanliness, health, sanitation, and everything and we passed both times. So finally our first shipment was sent Dec. 16. In both commissaries they have an average of 1,000 customers a day,” he said.
Pellegrino, a former Saipan Chamber of Commerce president, said the reception to the company's fresh chilled shrimps has so far been encouraging.
“They like our shrimp. They are not frozen. They like to have it as fresh, chilled shrimp and that's one of the niche markets that we found-fresh, chilled shrimp. We're very excited that this is the first time any company on Saipan was able to sell any product to the military commissary in Guam and now I'm talking to some of the [local] farmers to come in with me so they could sell their produce there,” he said.
Catalma said the Guam commissaries are just the beginning as Saipan SyAqua is eyeing to penetrate other markets in the U.S. territory and even beyond.
“If Guam really opens up, we can still branch into other stores and hotels. The wonderful thing about the commissary is Guam's is it's just one of 14 commissaries around the region-Okinawa, Japan, and Korea. We're now included in the worldwide directory of commissaries,” he said.
Pellegrino added, “We're on a stepping stone. Let's just do it one step at a time. We're optimistic.”
Catalma said one thing going for them is the fact that Saipan SyAqua is an American company and its products are made in the U.S.A.
“The U.S. military commissaries prioritize American-made products and most frozen shrimps are from Indonesia and China and that's why they're very interested on our shrimp because they're made in the U.S.A.-that's our main strength.”
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