Seafood supplier: local wholesaler or factory in Vietnam?

Type "seafood supplier" into Google and you get local wholesalers that deliver to restaurants the next morning. If you buy by the container, you need something else: a factory that can load a 20' reefer (roughly 17 to 20 tonnes of frozen shrimp) and a specification you can actually enforce. This article sets out how to choose, by supplier type and by annual volume.

The article takes four steps: what the search results are really selling, a table of the four supplier types, the calculation that gets you from an FOB price to a landed cost, and the exact clauses to put in your specification.

What a "seafood supplier" search is really selling you

A seafood supplier is a business that sells fish, crustaceans or shellfish to the trade, but the term covers very different businesses. Nearly all the pages ranking for it describe a local delivery service, not an import source.

Why don't the top results speak to a container buyer?

Because they sell availability, not control over origin. According to mericq.com, the Lyon-based group (a supplier since 1960) takes orders 24 hours a day for delivery the next morning, from a depot less than 2 hours from your premises. Profish, in Caen, has claimed "constant attention to quality, freshness and price" since 2016 (profish.fr).

That's a real service, and for a single restaurant it's the right call. But a single restaurant doesn't buy a container, and these pages say nothing about guaranteed size grade, glazing rate or the factory's approval number.

The chefcook.fr catalogue does show the language both sides speak: raw shrimp tails sold in 13/15, 16/20, 26/30 and 31/40 counts, plus 16/20 Black Tigers. The count (pieces per pound) is the only unit the retailer and the factory share. We crunch the numbers on this in Large shrimp: the size grade that sends your price per kg soaring.

Does a certified supplier change the question?

Slightly. Sovintex presents itself as an MSC pioneer since 2003 and the first ASC-certified company in France, with more than 30 eco-certified species (sovintex.fr). What you're buying then is a certification and a catalogue, at the cost of one more intermediary between the factory and your dock. To compare ASC and BAP before you require either, read ASC vs BAP certification for shrimp.

Four types of supplier, four ways of buying

The right supplier depends on what you want to control: same-day freshness, certification, the recipe, or the product itself from the factory onwards. The table below ranks the four cases we found in the search results and in our own files.

The Furic row needs a word of explanation. In the Pro à Pro channel's video, Jean-François Furic processes 1,500 tonnes of raw material a year (mostly sardines and mackerel), in a family that has been in fish since 1920, with MSC certification. He's an excellent tinned-fish supplier for contract catering, but he isn't a tropical shrimp supplier.

Below what annual volume is direct import not worth it?

My rule of thumb: under two or three containers a year, stick with your importer. A 20' holds 17 to 20 tonnes and ties up your cash for several weeks (20% deposit, then the 80% balance), and a first container that goes wrong costs more than the margin you saved.

Below that threshold, the decision turns on how reliable your importer is, not on price. Above it, the margin per tonne justifies the work of writing a specification. To compare the three sourcing routes, see trader, factory or on-the-ground partner.

Is a supplier you found on Reddit a supplier?

No, and a sample shows why. Across six "Frozen Seafood Supplier" posts from the same account (captainschoiceph), on r/negosyo, r/SmallBusinessPH and r/TipidFindsPH, you read "SOLO ORDER, WHOLESALE, DIRECT STORAGE" and then "Message us for more inquiries". Every one of them has zero votes and zero comments.

None of these posts mentions an establishment approval number, a health certificate or an Incoterm. It's a Philippine resale market with no connection to EU imports. If a supplier can't put those three things in writing, it isn't a supplier, it's an ad. The full checklist is in Vetting a shrimp supplier in Vietnam.

From FOB price to landed cost at Le Havre or Antwerp

The FOB (Free On Board) price is the price of the goods once they're loaded on the ship in Ho Chi Minh City. The figure that matters for your margin is the landed cost, DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) Le Havre or Antwerp, which adds freight, port charges, inspections and duties.

What do you add between FOB and your warehouse?

Seven lines, each priced separately on every quote: the FOB price per size grade, reefer freight, insurance, terminal handling, border health inspection, customs duty and trucking to your warehouse. The Incoterms are covered in detail in FOB, CIF or DDP, and the port inspection in SIVEP inspection: what happens to your container at Le Havre.

Duty is the line where paperwork weighs most. According to the European Commission's Access2Markets database (European Commission), frozen shrimp carry a base duty of 12%, which the EVFTA cuts to 0% for goods of Vietnamese origin covered by an EUR.1 certificate. Without that document, you pay 12% on the customs value. See EUR.1 certificate and the EVFTA.

What fits in a 20' and how do you mix products?

A 20' reefer can take several products in the same container, for example 16/20 PDTO (peeled, deveined, tail on) alongside 31/40 HOSO (head on, shell on). The MOQ (minimum order quantity) is a single 20' FCL (full container load), which is why an individual retailer isn't our target.

Transit time is already covered in several posts on this blog, including the real Vietnam-France transit time. The one thing to remember is that the transit time on the quote is not how long your cash is tied up. For the full timeline (MOQ, lead times, deposit), read Ordering a container of shrimp from Vietnam.

How is the order paid: 20% deposit and CAD?

The standard set-up is 20% on order to start production and 80% by CAD (Cash Against Documents). Under CAD, the bank only releases the shipping documents (bill of lading, EUR.1 certificate) once the balance is paid. So you pay the balance against verified paperwork, not against a promise.

What to put in your specification

A specification is the document the factory signs that sets out, line by line, what you will reject on arrival. Every line below needs a number: a requirement without a figure can't be checked when you open the container.

Which lines should you require from the factory, and with what figures?

Here are the seven lines we have factories sign, with the value to fill in:

• EU approval: establishment number on the EU list of approved establishments, with a copy of the certificate attached to the quote.
• Size grade: guaranteed range (for example 16/20) with a written tolerance as a percentage of out-of-grade pieces.
• Glazing: declared net weight excluding ice, with a written cap. How this works is explained in Shrimp glazing rates.
• Certification: BRC or IFS for the factory, ASC or BAP for the farm, with certificate numbers.
• Temperature: -18 °C core temperature on arrival, with a data logger in the container.
• Final inspection: third-party pre-shipment inspection, with a photo report before the balance is paid.
• Origin: EUR.1 certificate issued before loading, for 0% EVFTA duty.

I'll add one conviction from experience here: the line that costs the most when it's missing is the final inspection, because it's the only one that turns the other six into evidence. To see this specification applied to your own size grades, request an FOB quote by size grade within 48 hours: you'll get prices by pack format, with the lines above filled in by the factory.

How do you check the container on arrival?

At Le Havre or Antwerp, cross-check three documents: the health certificate, the EUR.1 and the pre-shipment inspection report. When unloading, weigh a thawed sample to check the glazing, count the size grade on ten pieces per carton and download the temperature logger. These three checks take less than half a day, and they give you grounds for a claim if the variance exceeds the signed tolerance.

In the interest of transparency: on my own Search Console (30 days to early September 2026), emg-seafood.fr shows 11 clicks from 871 impressions, and the article on 16/20 and 31/40 size grades accounts for 4 of those clicks from 410 impressions. Readers arrive with a technical question, not by searching "supplier". That's why this article is structured as it is: size grade and glazing first, quotes second.

Verdict: list, trial or avoid

The seafood supplier to choose is a local wholesaler if you're supplying a kitchen, and a Vietnamese factory on FOB terms if you're stocking a warehouse. The practical threshold I recommend is two to three containers of 17 to 20 tonnes a year. Below that, your importer remains the right choice.

• List: a Vietnamese factory on FOB terms for any importer, wholesaler, buying group or processor using at least two or three 20' containers a year, with EUR.1 and final inspection written into the contract.
• Trial: a first 20' with mixed products (two size grades, for example), to measure glazing and consistency before scaling up to several containers.
• Avoid: any supplier without an approval number, a written Incoterm or a pre-shipment inspection, whether you found them on a forum or in a directory.

If you're in the second group, the Vietnam shrimp supplier page explains how we select factories and inspect every container, with a priced quote within 48 hours.