Fredrikstad, Norway-based start-up Pronofa is hoping to become its home country’s largest producer of sustainable proteins for use in aquafeed.
The company is planning to construct a large-scale pilot plant for insect production in an industrial area of Fredrikstad, and to engage in an initial public offering (IPO) on Oslo’s Euronext Growth Market in the near future, according to Hege Rivedal Ødegaard, the company’s research and development director.
“Our goal is to have an annual production of 50,000 metric tons (MT) of insect larvae by 2025. We are also looking at several other alternative marine protein sources, including tunicates,” Ødegaard told SeafoodSource. “We already have a pilot running where we produce larvae today, and the new upscaled pilot will be ready at the beginning of next year.”
Pronofa’s previous acquisition of insect producer Flying Feed, which has developed the production of living larvae and larvae protein powder for feed production and as a feed additive, will help in the company’s fast-tracked plans for expansion, Ødegaard said.
Also helping is Pronofa’s connection with Fredrikstad-based Denofa, a producer of oil and alternative proteins, which is Pronofa’s largest shareholder. Other investors include Convexa, Six-Seven, Canica, Macama, Lani Invest, Godthåb Holding, and Andersen Holding. Denofa processes around 420,000 MT of non-GMO certified sustainable soybeans. The resulting soymeal is sold to the feed market, mainly in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, while its soy oil and lecithin are sent to the European market as an ingredient for feed and food.
Denofa will use its industrial expertise to guide Pronofa to commercial success, with a broad protein portfolio, Denofa CEO Hans Petter Olsen said.
“This will be Norway's largest investment in sustainable alternative proteins,” Olsen said. “The demand for more protein raw materials is great, and here we have both the history and the industrial expertise to scale up more Norwegian sustainable protein raw materials in addition to those we already have today. The testing is underway, the site is ready and the building plans approved. We are going up on a large scale as soon as possible.”
Ødegaard said Pronofa’s insects will be grown from food waste, which will also create a positive environmental impact. One-third of all food produced worldwide is wasted, which accounts for up to 8 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted, he said.
“In Norway alone, waste food amounts to some 385,000 metric tons. This resource makes an ideal basis for insect production which in turn provides a new protein source,” he said. “This is the circular economy in practice. From compost and biowaste, we can produce a high-value product that agriculture and the aquaculture industry need. Insect production globally is already large and about to skyrocket. It is time we took this up on an industrial scale.”
Photo courtesy of Pronofa
