Press release
Livestock feed
Insect proteins for sustainable chicken and pork
7 Sept 2021
Dongen, The Netherlands
Media contacts
- EB
Elselina Battenberg
Corporate media relations
Insect proteins are now approved in poultry and pig feed in Europe: an important step for circular agriculture. Insects are a natural food for poultry and pigs and bring nutritional -, health -, welfare -, and sustainability benefits. The approval of using insect protein meal for poultry and pig feed helps reduce the dependency on protein sources that are connected to deforestation and overfishing.
The European Union authorizes the use of insect proteins in poultry and pig feed as of September 7, 2021. This authorization is an important step and a key milestone. Insects are a valuable source of highly digestible proteins and may contribute to reducing the reliance of the EU livestock feeding system on proteins from third countries while simultaneously advancing the circular agriculture.
The European Commission Farm to Fork strategy promotes a circular feed system with the use of sustainable and local ingredients. Reintroducing insects in pig and poultry feed improves the resilience of agri-food supply, in line with the European Farm to Fork strategy. Member of the European Parliament Jan Huitema says “Insects can play a major role in moving towards a circular food system, since they are able to transform waste streams into high-quality animal feed. However, European legislation did not allow the use of insect proteins to the full extent. I am pleased that after years of raising awareness on this issue, insect protein is finally approved for animal feed. This way, Europe will become less dependent on feed imports, and the environmental impact of livestock production will be lowered.”
Protix is the first company worldwide that is able to produce insect-based ingredients on an industrial scale. The new legislation is a result of targeted work that Protix initiated in 2013 with the founding of IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed). Strong partnerships with innovative companies like Coppens Diervoeding and Agrifirm have accelerated these developments. “The collaboration with Coppens Diervoeding is a unique one. Our collaboration started in 2013. Coppens Diervoeding was the first producer worldwide to use insect oil in young piglet and broiler feeds. With Agrifirm we have also laid down fundamental work in large applications in poultry and we will continue our innovative work towards exciting concepts as well” says Kees Aarts, CEO of Protix. “Insect protein is a high quality nutritious and sustainable protein and provides a true benefit to our animal feed. It is a key part of our solution to contribute to a more sustainable livestock production,” says Hendrik de Vor, CEO of Coppens Diervoeding.
Dick Hordijk, CEO of Royal Agrifirm: “Insect-based ingredients are an important enabler for sustainable production of poultry and will help us source more locally with a lower footprint”.
In 2012 Protix founded IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed) to promote the use of insects as a source of nutrients for human consumption and animal feed to policy makers in Brussels. The IPIFF is now the world’s leading insect association to promote the use of insects for feed and food. Since then, the insect industry has developed strongly with the key milestone of the approval of using insects in sustainable feeds for fish in 2017. Today’s approval of using insect meal for poultry and pig feed is another, even bigger milestone. This authorization will open up two of the most relevant EU animal feed markets, which represent around 65% of the EU compound feed production. The demand for insects as feed is expected to grow, leading to an increase in the production capacity of the sector.