Feasibility Study: Designing a highly efficient production facility for insect-based products

Entec Nutrition is a UK-based SME that is pioneering the development and adoption of farmed insects as a sustainable food source.

As population levels rise, it is expected that fish and poultry consumption will increase, generating a greater demand for animal feedstocks, and therefore animal-feed ingredients (feed costs constitute 50-60% of aquaculture production costs; 60-80% of poultry) \[Government Office for Science, 2017\].

The global feed industry is energy-intensive, reliant on international imports, at risk of commodity price hikes, and associated with deforestation. The UK needs to increase feed production resilience to mitigate these issues and to move the UK's fish and poultry production towards a sustainable and productive future. This project will significantly support the UK goal to reach net-zero carbon target by 2050\.

Entec Nutrition and its uniquely positioned consortia (Campden BRI, The University of Exeter) and specialised subcontractors to design a fit for purpose, highly energy-efficient and cost effective insect rearing facility design. This includes exploring the intrinsic science behind insect nutrition applied to animal feed, investigating efficient food production methodologies and integrating technology to propose a high-tech, bespoke insect rearing facility that is completely aligned to the market needs.

The project will enable significant investment on the construction of this cutting-edge production facility, bringing immediate economic benefits to the country. Additionally, the project has the potential to position the UK as a leader in using insect feed to lower the cost of production and environmental impact of the poultry and aquaculture industries.