The World’s Biggest Bug Farm Wants to Decarbonize Fishmeal
With five floors of insect incubators, Innovafeed’s newly expanded plant in France can produce 15,000 tons of insect protein per year.
A container of insect larvae at the Innovafeed insect farm in Nesle, France.
Photographer: Benjamin Girette/BloombergIn a warehouse not far from Paris, 60 million black soldier flies give birth to larvae that are scalded, ground up and used to feed salmon and shrimp. The place doesn’t smell great. Innovafeed SAS is hoping to make this the future of fish food.
The French firm recently completed an expansion of its facilities in Nesle, France, where Innovafeed has three joint buildings dedicated to egg production, rearing larvae and making bug-based fishmeal and pet food — including five floors of insect incubators. With 35,000 square meters (37,700 square feet) of floor space, Innovafeed says its plant is now the largest insect farm in the world in terms of production capacity, and has the ability to generate 15,000 tons of insect protein per year. An additional expansion, already underway, is slated for completion in 2024 and will bring the facility to 55,000 square meters of floor space.