The major question in any startup business is whether profitability can be reached. While we have a very good projection of the costs of production, there is some uncertainty regarding what prices we can achieve for our product, since we will be able to provide the market with a fresh weekly product which is basically unavailable in today's market place, particularly for the Midwest markets far removed from ocean coastlines. Given the uniqueness of our product, we should be able to command a substantial price premium. However, what this price premium is and what form of product gives us our highest profitability is totally unknown and in fact there is no current market data that can even provide us with this information. Our research is designed to help answer these questions and tailor our production and processing efforts to optimize product value and therfore price and profitability. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective is to evaluate the product form of marine shrimp, Litopenaius vannamei, to sell into niche markets and to evaluate the pre-harvest acclimation procedures and their effect on taste and quality. The second objective is to determine if there is any impact of our different shrimp strains upon product form and eating quality of marine shrimp in an inland location. APPROACH: Shrimp will be evaluated utilizing the different product forms (size, live or fresh, heads on or off), acclimation procedures, and market segments. The research will be carried on sequentially with acclimation procedures evaluated first. It is planned that the market segments will be evaluated concurrently for several weeks (minimum of six weeks) to monitor the repeat business as well as the initial evaluation. Routine monitoring of each of the treatments will include weekly sampling of average shrimp weight for each treatment, weekly prices, seafood quality parameters, such as color, melanization, taste preferences, etc., and survival measures for treatments involving live shrimp. Magnolia in cooperation with Kentucky State University (KSU) will be responsible for the statistical analyses of this experiment. Using the data obtained in Objective 1, we will evaluate any strain differences that might exist for the treatments evaluated. Each of the groups will be evaluated in terms of dressout parameters. We will evaluate perceptible sensory differences between strains by using the Standard Test Method for Sensory Analysis (Triangle Difference test). Edible portions will be evaluated fresh under standardized organoleptic conditions using a hedonic scale as mentioned above for attributes of odor, taste, appearance, and texture. A total of 30 people from the KSU campus and surrounding area will be recruited to participate in the taste panel. Instrumental analysis of the color, texture of the shrimp will also be conducted. Cooking yield of the shrimp will also be determined
