Our six-legged friends - Insect Producers and Where to Find Them
Comprehensive review of current insect feed producers
In our previous newsletters, we provided an overview on insect feeds, deep dived into relevant legislations and explored available buyer commitments (here and here).
Today, we will highlight key trends within insect production, elaborate on production processes and challenges. In addition, we included a comprehensive list of insect feed producers with details on their production capacity and funding rounds (based on publicly available data).
Top 5 Insect Feed Producers (by funding received)
🐛 Ÿnsect
Total raised USD 425m | Production: largest insect farm globally in the city of Amiens, France, producing 100,000 tons of insect products annually.
Total raised EUR 200m | Production: Largest active insect production site in Nesle with production capacity of 100,000 tonnes of ingredients including 15,000 tonnes of protein. Upcoming production site in the US, co-locate with ADM’s large Decatur corn processing complex, with ADM supplying raw materials and waste heat - expected to have an annual production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of insect protein, plus 20,000 metric tons of oils for poultry and swine rations and 400,000 tons of fertilizer.
Total raised USD 135m | Production: plan to develop 20 fly farms in North America, as part of a larger goal of building 100 fly farms by 2024 and 200 by 2027. Insect factories: 3 in the Middle East, 2 in Asia and 1 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where it is constructing generation one (G1) factories. Greenfield factories will produce: per day, 16 metric tonnes (mt) protein feed ingredient, 9mt oil feed ingredient and 88mt compost.
🪰 Protix
Total raised EUR 70m | Production: $45 million, 14,000-square-meter production facility in Bergen op Zoon, produce protein to provide feed for over 5 million salmons and 250 million eggs laid by feeding hens with soy free feed.
Total raised USD 28.6m | Production: 42,000-square-foot flagship facility in Cashmere producing 1 ton of insect protein daily at full capacity, largest mealworm producing facility in North America
Database
Database for Insect Feed Producers (Note - work in progress and will update continuously)
Key Trends
Out of 47 startups tracked by aquablurb, 30 startups produces feed from Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) only.
Mealworm is gaining momentum, with increasing production scale led by Ÿnsect and Beta Hatch.
Products commonly include: fresh larvae, dried larvae, protein powder, oil and fertilizer (known as frass), predominantly used as aquaculture and livestock feed, sometimes as pet food.
Insect farms face region-specific substrate requirements e.g. only vegetable substrate (e.g. pre-consumer fruit and grain waste) and unprocessed farmer foodstuff (e.g. dairy and eggs) can be used as insect feed in the EU
Common obstacles experienced by insect feed producers
Full automation
Custom-made equipment
We’ve seen increased partnership between conglomerates and insect feed farms to test, scale and commercialize insect feed production e.g. ADM and Innovafeed, Skretting
Pricing
Aquablurb did not reach out to startups for pricing information. For those interested in pricing details, here’s a great literature review on profitability of insect farms.
The Ugly Duckling - BSF from Pest to Resource
As the most common insect used as feed production, aquablurb discovered fascinating details on BSF’s rise in popularity:
Prior to 1950s, BSF was commonly viewed as pests, and was feared for its myiasis capability (i.e. when fly larvae infest open wounds). It wasn't until 1973 and 1977, Newton and Hale’s publication demonstrated the potential of using BSF larvae as feed for livestock, that the status of BSF rose in ranks.
Appreciation for BSF as a colonizer of decomposing material further expanded when BSF played a key parts in solving crimes and determining time of death. In the 1980s, BSF’s true potential to recycle waste and produce animal feed was recognized. Today, BSF is the most commonly used insect to convert organic waste into biomass for use as poultry, aquaculture, or livestock feed.
BSF meal shows promising results in new trial with barramundi and marron
Why BSF?
Unlike other species in Family Stratiomyidae, BSF is strictly land-based for their entire life cycle.
BSF prefer nectar, avoid bacteria-rich environments as adults. Less likely to spread diseases. Does not feed during adulthood, rely on nutrients gathered as larvae.
BSF larvae will eat just about anything organic — including non-compostable food waste bound for landfills. Studies reveal BSF feed well on coffee grounds and brewery waste.
BSF larvae are mostly proteins and lipids. An innovative application is to process BSF oil into high grade biodiesel.
BSF have evolved a complex suite of enzymes and antimicrobial substances that kill or suppress most bacteria that they encounter.
Short life cycle: Female deposits between 200-600 eggs. Eggs hatch after about four days. Larvae starts at 1mm in length but quickly grow to 25mm. Based on feed requirement, larvae will growth for 10-28 days, then enter pupae stage and transform into adult flies.
Case Study
🪰 nextProtein
Founded in 2014 by Syrine Chaalala, an Emergency Operations Specialist at FAO, and Mohamed Gastli, a Grammy-nominated chemical engineer, next Protein started as a garage concept, stemming from Syrine’s experiences with locust plague in Madagascar.
Leveraging the unused and otherwise useless inventory of organic waste, nextProtein’s Black Soldier Fly production operations in Tunisia generate protein and supply organic fertilizer - all with near zero carbon footprint.
Certified through the EU’s Trade Control & Expert System, nextProtein products can be used as feedstocks for aquaculture, poultry, pork and pet food.
Products
nextProtein - dry protein powder
nextOil - lipid product
nextGrow - fertilizer made from Black Soldier Fly frass and their organic waste for agricultural use
Production Capacity
nextProtein produces as much protein from 100 m² as 100 hectares of soya field
In the progress of increasing production capacity to one tonne of protein per day, 100,000 tonnes per year by 2025, or an estimated 10% of the total insect protein market globally
Challenges
According to Gastli, the learning curve toward full automation is long, but there are viable options available, such as conveyor belts, sensors, feeders, and logistics. One of the main challenges all insect startups face is custom-making much of their equipment from scratch.
Insect Feed Associations
International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF) - EU NGO representing insect production sector (80 members) towards EU policy makers and stakeholders
InsectFeed - research consortium in the Netherlands, focusing on the production of insects for poultry feed
Insect Protein Association in Australia - advocate for the Australian insect industry to be a global leader in the food and feed landscape
ASEAN Food and Feed Insects Association - represents the interest of industry and the academia working with insects as food and feed in Asia.
In the News
China targets alternative protein development in New Bioeconomy Plan
World's first 100,000-tonne intelligent aquaculture ship begin operations in China
Taiwan to build solar-powered fish farm
Top 10 list of most-consumed seafood species in US
Researchers leverage blue-green algae powers microprocessor
Cargill to build new soybean processing facility in US
Nueva Pescanova Group fully digitalized shrimp hatcheries with aquaManager's IoT
Arnarlax plans 80k MT processing plant in Iceland
National Aquaculture Group, Saudi Arabia largest shrimp farm, receives ASC’s certification
Peru and Bolivia breed fish in conservation push
Using AI to improve resistance to sea lice
Deep Branch anticipates 1st single cell protein commercial production in 2027
Deals & Partnerships & Funding
Atlantic herring fishermen receive USD 11.3m from the U.S. government
$30m grant from Australian government to build largest indoor barramundi farm
Gulf Japan Food Fund invests in Oman Fisheries
Thai Union Group invests CAD 10m in Mara Renewables Group, producer o algae-based bio-products
Alantra acquires Union Martin, specializes in in cephalopods
Acme Smoked Fish Corp awarding grants to reduce seafood sector’s carbon footprint
Victory Farms, farm for tilapia fish, raised USD 5m from Ed Brakeman
Green Plains partners with the Riverence Group to expand aquafeed production in Idaho
Nutreco selected 15 startups for Feed & Food Tech Challenge 2022
Notable Reads
🐟 Researcher developed “light farming” technique to Make Fish Grow 60% Faster
🪆Researchers take the “Russian doll” approach to salmon parasites
🦐 Study reveals how shrimp respond to heat stress
💨 Marine heatwaves can be predicted ‘up to a year ahead’
🐡 Research pinpoints 'blue corridors' for highly migratory fish
🌈 Scallops love ‘disco’ lights leads to new fishing technique
🇮🇱 Insights from Israel’s number-one fish farm
🌿 Modifying different plant species to create immune-boosting antigens