4.4 Packaging

Shrimp is exported chiefly in raw headless shell-on form. Some raw peeled shrimp, mostly of the smaller sizes, is also exported.

Shrimp is normally packed in 2 kg inner cartons, but some, especially that for the United States market, is packed in 5 lb cartons. The use of different carton sizes for different markets is a good policy, given that users such as retailers and restaurants find it a nuisance to have to handle non-standard packs. Headless shimp is usually finger packed for attractive presentation and, in order to ensure correct weights when thawed, processors put 2-3 oz overweight in each inner carton. For peeled shrimp, 8 oz overweight is normal.

The quality of inner cartons is poor. The board and waxing used are not of good quality and staples are required. Cartons should be designed so that staples are not required.

Inner cartons are packed in master cartons according to market requirements, usually 10 inner cartons per outer carton. Since the import of unprinted cartons has been banned, some problems have also been encountered with the domestically manufactured outer cartons. According to the 1986 survey (Rapport Bangladesh Ltd., 1986), 20-30% of the domestically made cartons were estimated to have been lost due to early breakage, requiring importers to re-pack the product.