Paris, France-based insect biotechnology company Innovafeed and Verona, Italy-based fish feed producer NaturAlleva have announced a commercial partnership to integrate black soldier fly (BSFL) ingredients into aquafeed.
“This partnership marks a key step in positioning insect-based ingredients in aquaculture as true functional components,” Innovafeed CEO and Co-Founder Clément Ray said. “It clearly demonstrates that our BSFL ingredients go beyond basic nutrition: They are performance-driven solutions, ready to support improved health, robustness, and resilience across a wide range of aquaculture species.”
NaturAlleva has conducted nearly a decade of research on how BSFL ingredients provide key nutrition for aquaculture species, eliciting health outcomes like “supporting a healthy gut microbiota, enhancing robustness and stress resilience of aquatic species, and contributing positively to overall zootechnical performance.” Additionally, Innovafeed’s commercial use of these ingredients has proven successful for several years in sea bass and sea bream, it said.
“I am extremely enthusiastic about the application of insect meals in fish feed formulations,” NaturAlleva Fish Nutritionist Fabio Brambilla said. “After many years of studying the benefits of this raw material in fish nutrition, we have identified the ideal partner to initiate its use and to continue research on this innovative ingredient and its co-products. We believe that insect meals represent one of the key solutions for a more sustainable and efficient aquaculture.”
In addition to the production of BSFL aquafeed, both companies announced a joint investment in further research and development of other insect species as aquatic food sources, particularly in species containing chitin. The company said this marks one of the first steps in the future of aquaculture sustainability, with insect-based nutrition “entering a new phase of commercial maturity.”
“Our collaboration with Innovafeed supports the integration of scientifically validated functional ingredients into our feeding strategies, reinforcing our commitment to innovation while promoting optimal fish performance and health,” NaturAlleva CEO Ugo Biasin said.
Without the scaling of alternative feed sources, Rabobank has warned that there will be shortages of fishmeal as early as 2028.
“For quite some time, the main logic behind using alternatives was sustainability, and that’s why certain inclusion targets were set. But, it’s not a sustainability issue any longer, and I’m hoping there’s now going to be more industry urgency. Feed companies have already hired the smartest people and the smartest scientists, so they know what they can do with formulations,” RaboResearch Seafood Analyst Novel Sharma in September of last year. “If things continue as they are right now, a shortage is inevitable. We have to stop looking at this from the standpoint of ‘either/or.’ These ingredients need to be used together. It’s not binary; it’s a lot more complex.”
