For aquaculture companies looking to embrace an effective circular economic model, as well as a lighter footprint on marine resources, using insect-based aquafeed as a partial replacement for traditional fishmeal can help and, actually, open up new markets, according to Felipe Mayol, the commercial manager at Chilean startup Food for the Future (F4F).
F4F breeds black soldier flies to produce alternative aquafeed. To help their flies grow, the company feeds the insects organic waste at the rate of 1,000 metric tons (MT) a month.
Insect-based aquafeed has been widely tested in farmed fish species and has proven to be competitive with traditional fishmeal’s high standards of nutritional performance. However, it is largely only meant as a complement to fishmeal, as insect-based diets alone cannot come close to meeting overall fish dietary needs, Mayol said.
Currently, F4F can manufacture between 35 MT and 40 MT of insect protein for use in aquafeed per month.
Of the 1,000 MT of food waste F4F uses to feed its flies monthly, 200 MT comes from partnerships with supermarkets such as Jumbo and Santa Isabel – both owned by Cencosud, one of Chile’s largest retail conglomerates – and the Walmart-owned Lider.
“This started about two years ago when Cencosud’s sustainability department told us, ‘What you have is incredible. We have a zero-waste-to-landfill program that needs to be implemented by 2030, and we want to take our waste to you. How much will you charge us?’” he told SeafoodSource.
Walmart is the leading supermarket chain in Chile, holding 44 percent of the sector’s market share, followed by Cencosud at 33 percent, according to Santander Trade Markets. Jumbo alone operates 59 supermarkets in Chile, boasting more than 3.76 million total square feet of space.
F4F partnered with Puerto Montt, Chile-based salmon-farming firm Multi X and aquaculture feed supplier BioMar in 2022 to implement the country’s first pilot feeding plan with products made from insect protein instead of fishmeal.
Regarding its partnership with Jumbo, Mayol contacted local salmon-farming firm Caleta Bay, which uses F4F’s insect-based feed, to see if it could initiate a triangular business relationship.
“I asked [Caleta Bay] how long they had been trying to get their products onto Jumbo shelves, and they said they had been trying for more than five years. I told them, ‘OK, I have a proposal for you,’ and that’s why today, Caleta Bay trout can be found in Jumbo,” he said. “So, the issue of waste from our circular economy also helps to open markets.”
As momentum began to grow around the initiative, F4F ...
