A series of deals and a French supermarket chain’s high-profile introduction of an insect-fed trout have boosted the status of insect-based aqua-feed in Europe.
On 3 December, AgriProtein, a South African company that produces insect meal for the animal feed industry, including for use in aquaculture, announced the acquisition of Millibeter N.V., a Turnhout, Antwerp, Belgium-based insect feed company. Terms of the deal were not announced, but AgriProtein was assisted in its purchase with a cash investment from the Belgian Innovation Fund and other unnamed Belgian investors.
AgriProtein CEO Jason Drew said in a press release his company will use Millibeter’s facilities as its European headquarters for research and development. Millibeter’s entire team of entomologists, organic chemists, and engineers, including Millibeter CEO Johan Jacobs, will be retained by AgriProtein, Drew said.
“The team at Millibeter are excited to join AgriProtein and add value to their global project roll-out plans and R&D programs,” Jacobs said. “We have always believed in the potential of the organic nutrient recycling market in Europe. This investment is a significant vote of confidence in that industry”.
In the same release, AgriProtein said it has raised USD 105 million (EUR 92.5 million) to expand globally. In 2017, the company received an initial USD 10 million (EUR 9.4 million) investment to scale up globally, and it previously announced its plan to expand in North America.
In a separate announcement, Christiansfeld, Denmark-based Aller Aqua said it will build the first industrial insect plant in Denmark, with the eventual goal of producing insect meal for the aquaculture sector. Partnering with DTU Aqua, the Danish Technological Institute, Hanneman Engineering, Champost, and Enorm Biofactory, and aided by a DKK 15.9 million (USD 2.4 million, EUR 2.1 million) grant from Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food, Aller Aqua has set a goal of producing 30 tons of insects at the plant in four years’ time.
“Insect meal has the potential to be a valuable raw material in fish feed not only due to its high protein content,” Aller Aqua Group Research and Development Director Hanno Slawski said. “Several trials have been carried out with the inclusion of insect meal to replace or partially replace fish meal in fish feed with promising results, but further research is needed before commercial application. Research and trials will be carried out at Aller Aqua Research in Büsum, Germany.”
The project represents Aller Aqua’s first foray into insect meal; the company annually produces more than 300,000 metric tons of fish feed and has annual sales of DKK 1 billion (USD 152.1 million, EUR 134 million). Slawski said the company is aiming to product insect meal suitable for trout, salmon, and tilapia farming.
Separately, on 1 December, a third European company focused on insect-based feed protein, InnovaFeed, announced it had secured EUR 40 million (USD 45.4 million) in funding from a group of investors led by French investment firm Creadev. In the announcement, the company said it hopes to invest EUR 200 million (USD 227.1 million) in the construction of five insect plants by 2020.
The Evry, France-based company is led by CEO Guillaume Gras, and its senior leadership includes Aude Guo, Bastien Oggeri, Clément Ray, and Yann Grierson. It previously received a EUR 15 million (USD 17 million) investment round in February 2018 from Alter Equity 3P.
InnovaFeed scored another win with the 9 December announcement by French retailer Auchan stating it had begun marketing 30 metric tons of trout raised on the company’s insect-based fishmeal, produced its pilot facility, located in Haut-de-France.
The trout, raised by Truites Services on feed made by Skretting containing 50 percent insect protein provided by InnovaFeed, is now available for purchase in 50 supermarkets in Northern France, according to an Auchan press release.
“This is a great partnership that gives feed manufacturers and fish farmers a concrete and reliable outlet,” Gras told Feed Navigator. “This guaranteed market enables them to take the risk to innovate with us.”
Auchan’s head of seafood Jacques Le Cardinal told Feed Navigator he hopes to expand its sales of insect-fed fish to all of the chain’s 270-plus supermarkets in France.
Photo courtesy of AgriProtein
