THE IMPLICATIONS ON THE "SHELF LIFE" OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE FLOWS OF SHRIMP IN ITALY

In the fish market we observe increasing substitution processes of fresh fish: in fact, heat-treated fish (frozen and not frozen) is preferred to fresh fish, with very low substitutability between them, especially in the case of shrimp. The Italian food industry uses this product primarily for processing, to obtain pre-cooked ready products, which have a different "shelf life" depending on whether the imported raw material is frozen or not (frozen and not frozen). In fact, trays of shrimp, not frozen, pre-cooked, packaged in controlled atmosphere, have a shelf life reduced to only 3 days at 4 ° C and apparent phenomena of melanosis in the outer part of the cuticle. Instead, regarding pre-cooked frozen shrimp (about 6 months), the "shelf life" appears to be greater as the freezing process reduces the alteration of shellfish , although this involves an obvious loss of the nutritional component of fish product.To meet domestic demand different types of merchandise aforesaid, Italy is dependent on the importation of foreign shrimp, especially from countries where production is carried out in oceanic waters.The present work aims to capture the trends in imports of shrimp in Italy, to identify current trends and future of these trade flows.The data are taken from official statistics International “United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database”.