Arbiom, a French-American company that has developed a process for turning agricultural and wood residues into proteins for feed and food applications, has received an EUR 12 million (USD 13 million) grant from the France Relance investment program to build a new factory to kick-start commercial-scale production of its SylPro aquafeed.
Work on the new factory will start later in 2022 in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region of France, with a planned production capacity of 10,000 metric tons (MT) per year. The plant is expected to open in 2024.
Arbiom’s process transforms lignocellulosic biomass into singe-cell proteins, an emerging class of alternative proteins. According to the company, these have been shown to function well as replacements for conventional proteins such as fishmeal, soybean meal, and soybean concentrate – all of which have impacts on the environment.
“This grant is excellent news not only for Arbiom but for the global food chain as a whole. At a time when Europe imports 80 percent of proteins for animal feed, it is crucial that we develop new sustainable and local sources of highly nutritious proteins,” Arbiom CEO Marc Chevrel said in a release.
News of the grant came on the back of the successful conclusion to the company’s four-year Horizon 2020 project named Sylfeed. The project validated the scale-up potential of Arbiom’s production process and the performance of SylPro as a sustainable alternative ingredient in aquaculture feed, the company said.
The project completed studies on feed-conversion ratio, specific growth rate, and body-weight gain in rainbow trout, and found SylPro could be substituted successfully for plant proteins and fishmeal up to a level of 20 percent. Commercial trials also took place with pet food and piglet feed manufacturers.
Arbiom Senior Vice President of Nutrition and Product Development Ricardo Ekmay said the study found SylPro's high protein content and balanced amino acid profile gave it good digestibility, positive impacts on gastrointestinal health, and increased palatability.
The Sylfeed Project involved 10 organizations, including Norske Skog and Golbey in biomass sourcing, Prayon, Rise Processum, Bioprocess Pilot Facility, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, and Arbiom in biomass fractionation and conversion into SylPro; with Laxá, Matís, and Skretting contributing to the formulation and manufacturing of fish feed. Research assessing the environmental performance of SylPro compared to other protein sources was carried out by Norsus.
“Leaders representing all parts of the wood-to-food value chain came together with a common vision and commitment to success,” Chevrel said.
Image courtesy of Arbiom
