Shrimp is not sold by size. It is sold by count — the number of individual pieces it takes to make one pound. Everything downstream of that number, from your price per kilo to how many pieces land on a plate, follows from it. If you are buying shrimp for the first time, this is the one convention worth learning properly.
How count grading works
A count of 21/25 means that one pound (453.6 g) of that shrimp contains between 21 and 25 pieces. Lower numbers mean bigger shrimp. A count written U/15 means "under 15 pieces per pound" — an open-ended band at the large end.
Two consequences follow immediately:
- Lower count = higher price per kilo. Big shrimp are scarcer and command a premium that is not linear — the jump from 31/40 to 21/25 usually costs more than the jump from 51/60 to 41/50.
- The band is a range, not a promise of uniformity. A 21/25 lot can legitimately sit anywhere inside the band. If you need consistency for portion control, say so and pay for the tighter grade.
The full chart
Counts are quoted per pound but most of the world buys per kilogram. Here is both, with average piece weight, which is what actually matters for portioning.
| Count (per lb) | Pieces per kg | Avg piece weight | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| U/15 | under 33 | over 30 g | Premium retail, grilling, hotel |
| 16/20 | 35 – 44 | 23 – 28 g | Premium retail, restaurant mains |
| 21/25 | 46 – 55 | 18 – 22 g | Retail centrepiece, food service |
| 26/30 | 57 – 66 | 15 – 17 g | Retail, skewers, general food service |
| 31/40 | 68 – 88 | 11 – 15 g | Retail packs, stir-fry, curry |
| 41/50 | 90 – 110 | 9 – 11 g | Food service, ready meals |
| 51/60 | 112 – 132 | 8 – 9 g | Ready meals, salads, mixes |
| 61/70 | 134 – 154 | 6.5 – 7.4 g | Salad shrimp, seafood mixes |
| 71/90 | 157 – 198 | 5 – 6.4 g | Salad shrimp, fillings |
| 91/110 | 200 – 242 | 4.1 – 5 g | Fillings, soups, processing |
| 100/200 | 220 – 441 | 2.3 – 4.5 g | Processing, paste, small-piece mixes |
The arithmetic, if you want to check any row: pieces per kilogram = count × 2.2046. Average piece weight in grams = 453.6 ÷ count.
Three ways buyers lose money on counts
1. Comparing counts across different cuts
A 21/25 head-on shell-on shrimp and a 21/25 peeled and deveined shrimp are completely different animals — the second one started life much larger. Counts are only comparable within the same presentation. Always state the cut alongside the count; our guide to HOSO, HLSO, PD and PUD covers what each conversion takes off.
2. Comparing counts across glazed and net weight
If a supplier grades on glazed weight, the pieces are smaller than the count implies and you have paid shrimp prices for ice. Insist that the count is graded on net, deglazed weight and that glazing percentage is stated separately on the carton. This is the single most common quiet margin leak in frozen shrimp.
3. Buying a band when you needed a target
If your retail pack must contain exactly twelve pieces at 400 g net, you need pieces averaging 33 g — the top of U/15, not "16/20 or thereabouts". Work backwards from the finished pack, then choose the band.
A worked example
You want to sell a 1 kg retail bag with roughly 50 pieces of shrimp. 50 pieces per kilogram sits in the 21/25 band (46–55 pieces/kg). At an offered price of, say, USD 6.20 per kg net with 10% glaze, your true cost per kilo of shrimp meat is 6.20 ÷ 0.90 = USD 6.89 — assuming the price was quoted on gross glazed weight. If it was quoted net, it is 6.20. That is an 11% difference sitting inside one ambiguous line on a quotation. Get it in writing.
What counts we hold
We grade from 16/20 through 100/200 on Metapenaeus affinis, with Parapenaeopsis stylifera in PUD and blanched presentations and Solenocera crassicornis head-on. Full detail on the shrimp export page. If you have a target piece weight rather than a count in mind, send that instead — it is a better brief.