Private Label Frozen Seafood: Indonesia Co-Pack Playbook

A practical, numbers-first playbook to launch private label frozen shrimp from Indonesia fast. Realistic MOQs, packaging print constraints, cylinder costs, reefer loading math, and the timeline to hit retailer windows—plus tactics to lower MOQ without blowing up unit costs.

If you’re staring down a retailer reset date and wondering whether Indonesia can deliver private label shrimp on time, you’re not alone. We’ve taken programs from idea to first container in as little as 72–90 days by sticking to a simple co-pack playbook. This article is that playbook, with the actual MOQ math, print realities, reefer loading estimates, and the levers that really move timelines.

The 3 pillars of a fast, low-drama shrimp launch

Do the MOQ math first. Packaging print MOQs, raw material yields, and reefer capacity dictate everything else. If you solve those three early, the rest lines up.
Design for print reality. Gravure printing in Indonesia is reliable and cost-effective at scale, but cylinders, color counts, and dielines control your lead time. We bake those choices into the brief on day one.
Lock the schedule in writing. Vessel bookings, lab tests, and export docs can add a week each if you leave them loose. We timebox approvals and book reefer slots early to protect your launch window.

This leads us to the timeline.

Weeks 1–2: Validation, specs, and packaging brief

What’s a realistic MOQ per SKU for private label frozen shrimp in Indonesia?

In our experience, here’s what programs actually run at in 2025:

Using stock film and generic cartons: 3–5 MT per SKU. Good for pilots or e‑commerce. You’ll use freezer-grade stickers or in-line labels for branding.
Full custom printed pouch + printed master carton: 6–10 MT per SKU. This volume absorbs pouch and carton MOQs without leaving you sitting on packaging inventory.
Whole shrimp (HOSO/HLSO) lines: 5–8 MT per SKU because grading and cooking yields want longer runs.

Reality check. Some factories will quote lower. Then they try to bundle your run with others and your load slips. We recommend treating 6–10 MT per SKU as the standard for printed packs, especially for PD/PDTO lines.

How long do printed pouches and master cartons take in Indonesia?

Assuming artwork is final:

Printed pouches (gravure): 4–6 weeks from approved dieline to delivered film. Cylinders 10–15 days. Printing and lamination 7–10 days. Curing and slitting 5–7 days. Add transport to the plant.
Printed master cartons (flexo): 2–3 weeks. If boards need to be ordered or PMS matching is strict, add a few days.
Dieline and first proof approval: 3–5 business days if your team is decisive. Two rounds of changes can turn this into 10+ days. Decide on zipper, hang hole, window, and matte/gloss early.

What’s interesting is that film lead times have normalized over the last 6 months. The bottleneck now is artwork indecision, not factory capacity.

What do gravure cylinders cost in Indonesia and how many do I need per SKU?

Budget for one set of cylinders per pouch size and design. Typical shrimp pouches run 7–9 colors.

Cost per cylinder: roughly USD 120–220 depending on width and engraving. A full set usually lands at USD 900–1,800 per SKU.
Change the pouch size or repeat length. You’ll need a new set. Change only small text. You still need at least one new cylinder for the changed color separation.

Pro tip. Keep variable content in a white or solid panel and apply a freezer-grade sticker for nutrition language or market-specific claims. You preserve the background art cylinders across markets and SKUs.

Weeks 3–6: MVP run and packaging production

Can I start with sticker labels to avoid printed carton MOQs?

Yes, and it’s smarter than it sounds. We run plenty of first shipments with:

Stock clear or matte film + back-of-pack content label. Use BOPP labels with freezer-grade acrylic adhesive. We’ve seen cheap labels lift in condensation tunnels, so don’t skimp here.
White master cartons + two stickers. One for front branding, one for regulatory text. Works well up to ~3,000 cartons if your retailer allows it.

Once velocity is proven, move to printed pouches and cartons. You’ll have real sales data to size your packaging order.

How can I reduce MOQ without raising unit cost too much?

Standardize pouch size across SKUs. One 1 kg dieline. One cylinder set. Multiple SKUs differentiated by stickers or a single spot color plate.
Use co-packer standard cartons. We keep common shrimp carton dies in stock. Matching those dimensions speeds carton lead times and improves reefer cube.
Share one production run across size grades that cook similarly. For example, 31/40 and 41/50 PD TO can share prep lines with minor changeover.
Start with IVP polybag inside a generic printed pouch. The IVP keeps product protected so you can simplify the outer art.
Consider digital-printed pouches for micro-launches. MOQ 1,000–3,000 is possible. Unit cost is higher, but you skip cylinders and shave 1–2 weeks. Not ideal long term, but it bridges a launch.

If you want to benchmark specs, our Frozen Shrimp (Black Tiger, Vannamei & Wild Caught) page outlines common formats we co-pack and ship.

Actionable yield note. Plan raw material to finished case with eyes open: PD tail-on yield from HLSO is typically 63–68%. PD tail-off 58–63%. Add your glaze target (10–20%). If you need 10 MT finished net weight at 10% glaze, you’ll produce 11.1 MT gross and require roughly 16–18 MT HLSO raw depending on grade mix and trim.

Weeks 7–12: Scale, load, and protect your date

How many 1 kg shrimp pouches fit in a 40-foot reefer?

Assuming 10 x 1 kg pouches per master carton:

Floor-loaded: 2,700–3,000 cartons depending on carton size and bracing. That’s 27,000–30,000 retail pouches. Typical payload 26–28 MT.
Palletized: 1,800–2,200 cartons on 20 pallets. Safer for high-frequency DCs. Payload 18–22 MT. Slightly higher freight per kg but faster warehouse handling.

We design carton dimensions around your logistics choice on day one because it changes how many pouches you should print.

What PO-to-loading timeline should I plan for with an Indonesian shrimp co-packer?

For new printed packs:

Week 0: PO, artwork freeze, and vessel forecast. Book reefer slot now. 2025 schedules are tighter with more blank sailings.
Weeks 1–2: Cylinders made. Carton approvals. Raw material secured and size grades confirmed.
Weeks 3–4: Film printed and curing. Trial peel/cook QC. If micro tests are required, plan 3–5 days.
Week 5: Full run, IQF, packing, and metal detection. Random organoleptic checks and weight calibration.
Week 6: Final QA, labels applied, cartons strapped. Health certificate and export docs 2–3 days. Load window opens.

If you’re using stock film and stickers, you can compress to 2–4 weeks PO-to-loading depending on raw availability and lab timing.

Fast answers to questions we get every week

What’s a typical pouch/carton print MOQ in Indonesia?

Pouches: 10,000–20,000 pieces per SKU and size. Smaller is possible with digital, but cost per pouch jumps 20–40%.
Master cartons: 2,000–3,000 pieces per design. Fewer is possible with higher per-unit pricing or by using generic cartons + stickers.

How long to approve pouch dielines with Indonesian printers?

Plan 3–5 business days for first proof and dieline. If you supply open files and PMS references, one revision is normal. Two-plus rounds create multi-week delays.

Stock film vs custom film lead time in seafood co-pack

Stock film and white cartons: can start immediately if you accept labeling. Good for pilots and urgent promotions.
Custom gravure film: 4–6 weeks after artwork. Worth it once your volumes are stable.

Raw material seasonality that affects MOQ

Vannamei: year-round with heavier harvests in Q4. Easy to schedule.
Black Tiger: more seasonal and region-specific. Build buffer in your timeline and consider flexible size grades.

Five mistakes that quietly kill shrimp co-packs

Designing beautiful art before choosing the pouch size. Change the size and you buy new cylinders.
Ignoring reefer cube. Wrong carton footprint looks small on paper and costs you 5–10% in freight on the water.
Over-customizing for each market. Shared backgrounds and stickered claims keep MOQs sane across regions.
Forgetting yields. A 3% yield miss on a 10 MT order is 300 kg of short product. That’s expensive to fix late.
Booking the vessel after production. In 2025, book early. Rolling a reefer a week can blow your promo window.

Resources and next steps

If you only take one thing from this, let it be this sequence: lock pouch size and carton footprint, decide print vs sticker, do the MOQ math, and book the reefer. Everything else flows.

Want us to sanity-check your timeline or packaging brief before you commit cylinders? You can Contact us on whatsapp and we’ll give you a straight answer based on current printer and vessel slots. If you’re still in exploration mode, you can also View our products to see standard formats we’re already running.

We’ve found that the teams who win retailer resets don’t move faster by cutting corners. They move faster by making the handful of decisions that matter early and never revisiting them. That’s the whole playbook.