Tech firms prove insects valuable as food source
NextProtein, says it can do this by rearing insects such as fly larvae on organic waste, traceable fruits and veg from food distributors and agricultural waste.
The bioconversion process generates an insect-based protein (for aquaculture, livestock and pets), an extracted fat, and an organic natural fertiliser for use in agriculture.
A participant in the EU’s Climate-KIC Accelerator programme, NextProtein recently secured €1.3 in fundraising to expand its activities in 2017. Investors were impressed by the scalability and sustainability of their business model.
Created in 2015, the start-up produces animal feedstock mostly from black soldier fly larvae. This saves land, water and energy resources, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Mohammed Gastil, CEO of NextProtein, said: “We feed insects on organic waste, namely fruit and vegetables from markets, converting food otherwise wasted into a sustainable major component of aquaculture fish meal, and alleviating pressure on severely depleted wild fish stocks.”
The EU recent approved use of insects as a source of protein for aquaculture feed.
Another mass-scale breeder and producer of insects for the livestock, pet, and fish feed markets, Ynsect, raised $15.2m in funding recently.
“Few people are aware how the animals they eat are fed,” said Antoine Hubert, CEO of Paris-based Ynsect.
“Farmed animals mostly consume genetically modified soya, grains, and sometimes poultry feather meal, as well as fish meal. It was fish meal, in particular, which caught our attention. Ynsect aims to produce 20,000 tonnes of insect protein per year.”
The International Platform for Insects for Food and Feed is considering advocating to get insect protein approved for inclusion in feed rations for non-ruminant livestock such as pigs and poultry. Intrexon Corp is another leading company in the drive to exploit insect larvae for the €56bn global animal feed industry.
