Apex Frozen Foods is a pure-play exporter of processed shrimp - it buys raw shrimp from farmers in Andhra Pradesh, runs it through its own plants to turn it into everything from simple frozen blocks to breaded ready-to-eat rings, and ships the finished product to supermarkets and restaurant chains in the US and Europe. The company started in 1995 as a small partnership in Kakinada and has spent three decades building a fully integrated operation, adding its own hatcheries, a second mega-plant, and a fledgling US subsidiary along the way. The recurring idea is control: it owns the hatcheries that supply the seed, the plants that process the catch, and the cold chain that moves it - so quality and traceability are in its hands from pond to port. # Business segments A single integrated engine - shrimp, from hatchery to export - where every stage feeds the next and the finished plate is the only thing sold to the outside world. ## 1. Frozen shrimp exports: protein from pond to plate, sold across oceans **The company makes money by buying raw shrimp, processing it into over 200 product formats, and selling every kilo to overseas buyers - it is a B2B exporter, not a consumer brand.** - **One product, many forms** - the entire business revolves around White-leg and Black Tiger shrimp, but the output ranges from basic Headless Shell-On blocks to high-value Ready-to-Eat (RTE) items like breaded butterfly shrimp and shrimp rings, serving both industrial food companies and retail supermarkets. - **Sold before it’s seen** - 100% of finished goods are exported, with the US and Europe together accounting for 95% of sales in FY26; the company sells on a Delivery Duty Paid basis to the US, meaning it handles freight and all import duties itself. - **The EU pivot is deliberate** - Europe’s share of revenue has climbed from 19% to 47% in three years, partly because it is a higher-realisation market than China and partly to reduce dependence on a single geography after US tariff disruptions. - **RTE is the value lever** - cooked, breaded, and par-fried products command a premium and are aimed at retail shelves rather than restaurant supply chains; the company doubled its RTE capacity to 10,000 metric tonnes with a plug-and-play expansion costing roughly USD 1 million. - **Duties shape the playing field** - India faces a combined 5.71% in US anti-dumping and countervailing duties, which is lower than Ecuador’s preliminary 10.58% ADD, giving Indian processors a relative cost edge in value-added products where labour matters more. ## 2. The integrated supply chain: owning the pond-to-port pipeline **The company does not farm shrimp itself, but it controls everything else - the baby shrimp, the processing factories, the freezers, and the trucks - so it can trace a prawn from hatchery to container.** - **Seed is the first link** - three company-owned hatcheries in Andhra Pradesh can produce 1.2 to 1.4 billion Specific Pathogen Free (disease-free) seed per year, which is sold to local farmers and used to secure supply for its own plants. - **Bought, not grown** - Apex exited its own farming operations between 2020 and 2024 and now buys raw shrimp directly from farmers within a 20-250 km radius of its plants, providing them with technical support to maintain quality. - **Two plants, one cluster** - the original Kakinada unit and the larger G. Ragampeta facility together have 34,240 metric tonnes of annual processing capacity and 3,500 tonnes of cold storage, sitting roughly 20 km from Kakinada port and 150 km from Vizag port. - **Cold chain in-house** - a dedicated fleet of refrigerated trucks and owned cold storage means the company does not rely on third-party logistics for the most temperature-sensitive leg of the journey; finished goods are shipped in reefer containers, and container availability has historically been the biggest operational bottleneck. - **Sustainability as a licence to sell** - the company has installed 1.5 Megawatt of solar power generation facilities across its three plants, it operates a zero liquid discharge system, and it holds certifications like BAP and ASC that are effectively entry tickets to Western retail shelves. # Group structure and partners **A standalone company with no parent, no subsidiaries (bar one small US support unit), and no joint ventures - it is a single entity exporting from India.** - **US subsidiary for proximity** - a wholly owned subsidiary was established in the United States in 2023 with an investment of Rs. 1.7 Crores, purely to provide logistical and customer support to North American buyers. - **No other entities** - as of the FY25 annual report, the company has no holding company, no associate companies, and no joint ventures anywhere. - **Trade body voice** - the company is a member of FICCI, FTAPCCI, and other industry bodies, and has actively lobbied with MPEDA and state governments on issues like antibiotic control in shrimp culture and continuous power supply for farmers.