Shrimp Farming
Financial Model

Grow-Out Cycle and Harvest Projections

The grow-out phase is where you turn juveniles into harvestable weight. In the first year, you'll stock your retained juveniles plus an additional 50,000 purchased juveniles per cycle. With a mortality rate of 18% and an average harvest weight of 0.025 kg per shrimp, you're targeting a total harvest of just over 50,000 kg for the year. The key levers here are improving that survival rate and increasing the harvest weight-even small gains will significantly boost your final output.

Product Mix and Pricing Strategy

Your harvest is split across five product categories, each with its own price point. In 2026, your mix is led by Whole Fresh Shrimp (30% of volume at $25.00/kg) and Head-Off Fresh Shrimp (25% at $35.00/kg). This diverse mix helps you target different market segments, from restaurants to retail. As you scale, you plan to shift more volume toward higher-margin products, but this initial balance is a smart way to establish a broad customer base.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Your primary production costs are feed and energy, which are modeled as a percentage of revenue. In 2026, shrimp feed is projected at 10% of revenue, and energy for the Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) is 7%. That means 17 cents of every dollar you earn goes directly back into production. Your goal is to drive these percentages down through better feed conversion ratios and energy efficiency, which will directly improve your gross margin as you scale.

Operating Expenses and Overhead

Your fixed costs are predictable, which is good for planning. Summing up your facility lease ($15,000/month), insurance, permits, and other core expenses gives you a fixed monthly overhead of $28,000. On top of that, your 2026 payroll for managers, biologists, and technicians totals $485,000 for the year, or about $40,400 per month. That's a total fixed cash burn of roughly $68,400 per month before you even account for production costs.

Initial Capital Investment (CapEx)

This is a capital-intensive business, and the numbers show it. Your total initial investment is projected at $9.7 million. The biggest ticket items are facility construction at $3 million and the RAS technology at $2.5 million. This is a significant upfront hurdle, so your financial model must defintely justify how that capital will be deployed to generate a return. Securing this funding is the first and most critical step.

Path to Profitability

You're projected to hit break-even in August 2026, just eight months after operations begin, which is an aggressive but achievable timeline. While you'll see a first-year EBITDA loss of -$293,000, the business turns profitable quickly, hitting a positive EBITDA of $757,000 in Year 2. The model shows strong margin expansion as you scale, with EBITDA growing to over $6.9 million by Year 5. This demonstrates a clear and compelling path to profitability for investors.

Investment Returns and Payback Period

Let's be direct: the projected Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 0.02% is extremely low and suggests the financial returns may not justify the high initial risk and capital outlay. However, the Return on Equity (ROE) is a strong 65.38%, indicating efficient profit generation once the business is operational. The payback period is 68 months, or about five and a half years. Finance: review the revenue and cost assumptions to see if the IRR can be improved by optimizing the operating model or if the current projection is realistic.

This shrimp farming financial model is 100% editable, giving you complete control to match it to your specific operation. You can easily adjust key assumptions like mortality rates, feed costs, and sales prices. This flexibility saves you from building a complex spreadsheet from scratch and lets you create a precise Excel template for your shrimp farming budget.

Tailor all hatchery and production inputs

Modify cost structures and staffing plans

Adjust pricing for different shrimp products

Model multiple growth scenarios easily

Get a clear, long-term view of your business with detailed five-year forecasts. This aquaculture financial template projects everything from revenue and expenses to cash flow, helping you make smarter strategic decisions. Use these financial projections for your commercial shrimp farm to secure funding and plan for sustainable growth.

Detailed monthly and annual forecasts

Includes P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet

Visualize growth with integrated charts

Plan for long-term capital needs

Your shrimp farm business plan excel needs a clear breakdown of costs, and this model delivers. It separates one-time startup investments from ongoing operational expenses so you can budget accurately. This detailed shrimp aquaculture startup cost breakdown in Excel helps prevent cash shortages and ensures you're capitalized for success.

Itemized list of capital expenditures

Clear breakdown of fixed and variable costs

Estimate initial cash requirements precisely

Avoid common financial planning mistakes

The built-in dashboard turns complex numbers from your prawn farming financial analysis into easy-to-understand charts and graphs. Instantly see key performance indicators (KPIs) like EBITDA, cash flow, and profitability. This visual approach is perfect for sharing insights with investors, partners, and your internal team.

At-a-glance view of key financial metrics

Track performance against your goals

Simplify complex data for presentations

Make faster, data-driven decisions

This shrimp aquaculture financial model is designed to meet the rigorous standards of investors and lenders. It includes all the essential financial statements, assumption summaries, and analyses they expect to see. Walk into any funding discussion with a polished, credible, and comprehensive financial plan that builds confidence.

Follows standard financial modeling practices

Includes all key financial statements

Clearly documents all assumptions

Build credibility with stakeholders

Pinpoint exactly when your farm will become profitable. The model automatically calculates your break-even point in months and sales volume, providing a critical milestone for your business plan. Use this shrimp farm profitability analysis to understand the key drivers of your bottom line and manage your path to positive cash flow.

Automatic break-even calculation

Analyze profitability by product

Understand your farm's core profit drivers

Set realistic targets for your team

Model your revenue with precision by defining multiple product lines, from fresh whole shrimp to frozen peeled products. The aquatic farming revenue projections are driven by your hatchery output, grow-out cycles, and product mix. This spreadsheet for shrimp farming expenses and revenue lets you test different pricing strategies to maximize income.

Model multiple shrimp product categories

Forecast juvenile sales as a separate stream

Adjust product mix and pricing assumptions

Link production output directly to sales