Why are companies racing to build the largest insect farm in the world?

The largest insect farm in the world – High-tech facility spanning 35,000 square meters will be produced 15,000 metric tons of protein Of fly larvae every year – it was launched in April in the French city of Nestlé. If all goes according to plan, he will break another insect farm record in December (45,000 square meters.) is located outside Amiens, which produces more than 100,000 metric tons of flour annually. It is expected that this record will be broken by at least two more farms that will start operating in 2024 and 2025.

The race to build the world’s largest insect farm has already begun. Efforts to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions From the production of animal feed, it has created a new industry that promises to produce huge amounts of protein in the future with lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional suppliers.

Within pioneer farms, companies proliferate Cockroaches, mealybugs, and fly larvae In temperature-controlled plastic tanks designed to help insects grow quickly. Insects feed on them Food waste Which often comes from nearby farms or food processing plants. Factories produce proteins 24 hours a day under the supervision of humans and robots.

Although humans have been consuming insects for thousands of years, startups, for the most part, do not market insects for human consumption. Instead, they seek entry Feed market. If the insects feed on food waste and grow near the farms or food processing plants you will eventually buy, they can be more dangerous. Sustainable source of nutrients Scientists say common alternatives are soybean feed or fishmeal.

“We’re not suggesting replacing any of the foods on your plate,” explained Christine Pickard, a biology professor at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, who conducts genetic research on insects raised for protein. He added: “What we are proposing is to make some foodstuffs more sustainable.”

Startups have sparked insects even more 1 billion dollars in venture capital since 2020 and are now vying for dominance in the small but emerging insect protein market. Last month, one of the largest American meat production companies,… Tyson Foods, invested in Protexa Dutch startup company is born Fly larvae Of the species Hermitia shines. Farmers prefer these insects because they eat almost anything and grow quickly.

Food manufacturer ADM signed a similar deal in 2020 with another fly farming startup, InnovaFeed, headquartered in Paris. Tyson and ADM each bought a stake in the partner company and announced plans to build new major pharmaceutical companies in the United States.

Insect farming startups hope larger facilities will help them break into the feed and fertilizer market.

“If you only produce a few or tens of tons, you won’t exist,” said Antoine Humber, co-founder of Ynsect, a French flour startup. “That’s why we have to design something so huge, because you need thousands of tons, if not tens of thousands of tons, for one buyer,” he added.

The growth of these companies is expected to be greater Environmental benefits – If they raise insects with food waste and build their facilities near existing farms and food processing plants. If companies raise insects on manufactured animal feed, the insects could be worse for the environment, according to a 2021 meta-analysis by researchers at the University of Helsinki and LUT.

“We really want to decarbonize food chains and replace ingredients that put pressure on natural resources, and the way to do that is through scale,” said May Walraven of Innovafeed.

The rapid growth of large, sophisticated facilities also shows that the industry is maturing, according to Protex founder Case Arts.

“This means we have passed that start-up stage,” he said. “We are now a company with large facilities that operate 24 hours a day,” he added.

The insect farming “boom” began in 2014 when a South African startup, the now-defunct Agriprotein, collected 11 million dollars To build a fly farm outside Cape Town. Agriprotein began operating the farm in 2015 and promised to build 99 more by 2024. Although the startup went bankrupt six years later, it has begun the race to build large-scale insect farms.

source: Washington Post