Lapeyre s perseverance resulted in a machine whose influence extended into the world marketplace, beyond its revolutionary effect on local economies where it changed the seafood processing industry forever. Grand Caillou Packing Company Bayou Grand Caillou, Louisiana Because the peeling machine lowered processing costs, shrimp could be sold at a lower price to a much broader market than ever before. Before automation, laborers were paid on a piecework basis, per bucket of shells. During the Depression, children and adults often worked to peel shrimp together. In the days of hand peeling, shrimp, a viable source of protein, was a luxury food which was available only locally, and at a premium price. Additional benefits include better sanitation and product consistency, and the availability of processing capacity at virtually any hour of the day or night, because only one employee is needed to operate and adjust several machines. Because of this yield gain, the cost reductions of the peeling machine both to processors and to consumers are significant. Yield is increased because the peeling machine recovers 5% to 10% more meat from the head and tail sections of the shrimp than can be recovered in a hand peeling operation. Processors using the shrimp peeler realize a significant increase in yield per barrel of shrimp, a factor that can make or break a shrimp processing operation. Handpeeling the same amount of shrimp would require the labor of as many as 150 experienced peelers, depending on the size and condition of the shrimp. The current Laitram Machinery Model A Automatic Shrimp Peeler is virtually identical to the first unit that was put into commercial use in Each machine peels approximately 1,000 pounds of shrimp per hour, ranging in size from 10 to 200 count per pound. West Coast, and in more than forty other countries is largely attributable to the machine that peels shrimp, invented by sixteen year old James Martial (J.M.) Lapeyre. The growth of the shrimp processing industry and its impact on local economies along the northern Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. For over fifty years, this elegantly simple solution known as the Model A Automatic Shrimp Peeler has proven to be the most effective and widely used method of automatic shrimp peeling, despite attempts by others to develop alternative approaches. Most of that equipment is derived from an idea conceived in 1943 by a Houma, Louisiana high school student. Introduction Today, automated machinery peels more than 500 million pounds of shrimp annually, worldwide. This is the story of how members of the Lapeyre (sounds like la pair ) family succeeded in doing just that, and in bringing about a revolution in the shrimp processing industry. 2 Model A Peeler, 1949 Floor Space (L x W x H): 16 ft 6 in x 7 ft x 11 ft 99 ft 2 (5 m x 2.1 m x 3.4 m 10m 2 ) Net Weight: 3725 lb (1691 kg) Yield: Approximately 1,000 lb (450 kg) of head-on shrimp or headless shrimp per hour Water Consumption: 31 gallons (117 liters) per minuteģ, 1979 From the application for patent of the first shrimp peeler design, filed July 25, 1944: The present invention relates to improvements in shrimp peelers and has for an object generally the expeditious, inexpensive, commercial peeling of shrimp.
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