Insect-based ingredients company Ÿnsect has signed two major agreements to set up production sites in the United States with milling company Ardent Mills and in Mexico with food and general services provider Corporativo Kosmos.
These agreements were signed as Ÿnsect also launched the world’s largest insect farm in Amiens, France.
Ÿnsect processes insects into high-end, high-value ingredients to feed the entire food chain: plants, fish, farmed animals, pets and humans. From purpose-built state-of-the-art farms, it uses disruptive technology protected by more than 350 patents, to raise its Buffalo and Molitor mealworms in highly-automated vertical farms.
The certified B Corp company, which counts Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr and his Footprint Coalition among its investors has already sold more than the capacity of the new Amiens site in the coming years. It is therefore taking on new projects to meet the growing demand from its customers.
Ÿnsect said the partnership announcements in the United States and Mexico reflect its development ambitions, with plans to build 10 to 15 farms worldwide by 2030.
In order to do this, it’s focusing its developments within the heart of agricultural areas to increase easy access to raw materials used to feed the insects, such as agricultural co-products from the cereal industry. The choice of these strategic locations, with close proximity to resources needed, reflects the company’s commitment to limit the impact of its activity on the environment, including CO2 emissions and water consumption.
With the Ardent Mills agreement, Ÿnsect said it will explore synergies with the leading supplier of wheat flour in North America, with the aim of starting the construction of a new site in 2023. This agreement follows the acquisition of Jord Producers, the group’s first farm on US soil, in Nebraska in March 2022.
“We have many synergies with Ÿnsect in the sense that both our companies are striving to help positively transform the way in which the world is fed. We are excited to explore sustainable food and ingredient production opportunities with Ÿnsect, which has unique expertise in producing insect-based ingredients,” said Angie Goldberg, Director of Development at Ardent Mills.
Ÿnsect CEO and Co-founder Antoine Hubert said his company wanted to help reinvent the global food system with a focus on sustainability, which is why it is “very excited” about the agreement with Ardent Mills.
“This marks the beginning of potential exciting collaborations between two key players in the global food industry,” Hubert said.
Meanwhile, the agreement with Corporativo Kosmos will establish and operate Mexico’s first insect farm, with construction also expected to start before the end of 2023.
“The association with Corporativo Kosmos will enable Ÿnsect to accelerate its development by leveraging its leadership in food service provision and its expertise in real estate development,” Hubert said.
This deal marks the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the two companies. Mexico is the leading country in the world in terms of human consumption of insects and insect-based proteins. In addition, this insect farm will bring Ÿnsect closer to the United States, which it regards as the largest future market for insect proteins.
“We are particularly pleased with our continued collaboration with Ÿnsect, a company that has developed unique expertise in insect production. The future Mexican production site will allow us to combine the best of our expertise to provide a quality and sustainable product offering,” said Jack Landsmanas, President of Corporativo Kosmos.
Ÿnsect has adopted a circular economy model based on its vertical farms to create value chains aligned with the Paris COP21 agreements. It currently runs two production sites, one in Dole, France (commissioned in 2016), one in the Netherlands (2017) and a hatchery in Omaha, Nebraska.
At Amiens, with the arrival of the first insects on site in recent weeks, the livestock’s growth phase has already started. The operation of the French facility will be rolled out over the next few months, with each site’s remaining workshops to be phased into operation. It will eventually produce up to 200,000 tonnes of ingredients.
