Tyson Foods announced it had invested in insect-protein supplier Protix and plans to build a partnership US production facility.
“The American meatpacker said Tuesday that it agreed to buy a stake in Dongen, Netherlands-based Protix BV to help fund its expansion. The companies will also form a joint venture to build and operate a US facility that will produce bug-based meal and oil, which are typically used in fish feed and dog food. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed,” Bloomberg reported.
The meat giant did not disclose the size of its minority stake it has taken in Protix.
Protix is a Netherlands-based company that produces ingredients based on insects.
Tyson Foods said:
“The strategic investment will support the growth of the emerging insect-ingredient industry and expand the use of insect-ingredient solutions to create more efficient sustainable proteins and lipids for use in the global food system.”
“It’s a multibillion-dollar industry opportunity that has tremendous growth potential, and we see Protix as being a leader there,” Tyson CFO John Tyson said in an interview.
“In the long run, insect-protein inclusion in animal-feed diets can be a real thing that exists and can be one that is good for people, planet and animals.”
Protix is already a main supplier of insect-based protein to pet food makers Nestle SA and Mars Inc.
“It is definitely a huge way to establish ourselves into an international context,” Protix CEO Kees Aarts said.
He added the deal with Tyson is a “tipping point we have been working for.”
Aarts said the US plant will be ready in 2025.
He also added that the new facility would be four times larger than its existing facility in the Netherlands.
It appears the World Economic Forum and major corporations are slowly resetting the global food supply chain.
As The Daily Fetched has previously reported, the WEF has been advocating bug-eating for years now.
In January, the European Union gave the green light for an additional two insect species to be used for human consumption.
The Acheta domesticus, better known as the house cricket, has been approved for human consumption within the European Union, according to documents.
Here is what The World Economic Forum writes on its website:
“The world’s population will reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. This means that despite only 4% of arable land on the surface of our planet, an additional 2 billion more humans will have to be fed.
To address this impending crisis, world experts and leaders will meet this autumn at the UN Food Summit and then the COP26. Often overlooked in these discussions is the potential role insects can play in helping meet this challenge.
Insects are a credible and efficient alternative protein source requiring fewer resources than conventional breeding.
Studies suggest that for the same amount of protein produced, insects, mealworms, in particular, require much less land than other sources of animal proteins. A study on crickets suggests they are twice as efficient in converting feed to meat as chicken, at least four times more efficient than pigs and 12 times more efficient than cattle.
Today, 12% of the world’s wild whole-fish catch is used for farmed fish in the form of fishmeal. An alternative to fishmeal can be the products resulting from the processing of insects such as the Tenebrio Molitor.
It has been shown that with mealworm, mortality in farmed fish is reduced by 40%.
Insect protein has high-quality properties and can be used as an alternative source of protein throughout the food chain, from feed for aquaculture to ingredients for nutritional supplements for humans and pets. All animal species, regardless of their diet, eat insects in their natural diet.”
READ MORE: UK Supermarket Plans on Selling Bugs As Food To Help with Cost of Living
