March 30, 2017

AgriProtein to build 20 fly farms in US and Canada

Waste-to-nutrient upcycler AgriProtein has established itself in North America with the aim of building 20 fly farms in the US and Canada.

The effort would be part of the company's global targets of setting up 100 fly farms by 2024 and 200 by 2027.

The world's biggest fly-farmer and first commercial-scale insect meal producer, AgriProtein is building a global network of insect protein factories that mass-produce sustainable animal feeds to replace fishmeal used in aquaculture, agriculture and petfood.

Said co-founder and CEO Jason Drew: "With supplies of fishmeal dwindling we're moving as quickly as we can to bring insect protein into the mainstream of animal feed. As well as ensuring continued supply of protein in the years ahead, replacing fishmeal with insect meal allows our oceans to heal, reduces greenhouse gases at every stage of the supply chain from point-of-catch to point-of-sale and leaves more fish in the sea for humans."

AgriProtein has set up a dedicated North American team to develop its business locally and build an R&D capability. Headed by Jon Duschinsky, it will identify suitable locations and licensing partners for fly-farm operations in the US and Canada.

The company announced its North America initiative at the World AgriTech Innovation Summit 2017 in San Francisco, US.

Said John Duschinsky: "The US is the world's biggest consumer of protein and the world's biggest producer of organic waste, a very important market for us. And as AgriProtein is disrupting three industries - agriculture, aquaculture and animal feed - it's natural we chose the world centre of disruptive technologies to launch our North American campaign."

AgriProtein has allocated several international licenses to use its technology in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East. Last week the company signed an agreement to build three fly farms in Saudi Arabia.

In February, it announced a partnership with Austrian engineers Christof Industries enabling it to roll out its fly factory blueprint on a turnkey basis anywhere in the world at the rate of 25 per year – more than two per month.

In January, AgriProtein entered the Cleantech Global Top 100 and earlier in March, won a CleanEquity award for its environmental technology research presented by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.

In December last year, the company won an AUD450,000 award for its industrially-scalable solution to the depletion of fish stocks in the Indian Ocean in the Australian government-backed Blue Economy Challenge.

- AgriProtein