Author
Joana Vide Pereira, Fasttrack Action
#Bioeconomy, #BBI JU, #FARMYNG, #alternative proteins, #insects, #animal nutrition, #success story, #H2020
FARMŸNG (Flagship demonstration of industrial scale production of nutrient resources from mealworms to develop a bioeconomy new generation) is a H2020 BBI JU funded project that aims to establish the largest global fully-automated flagship industrial plant to produce sustainable premium proteins from insects (Tenebrio Molitor) for animal nutrition. (1)
The project, coordinated by Ÿnsect, has the ambition to develop, on an industrial and automated scale, the breeding and transformation of insects for the production of ingredients, with the strong participation of 20 key actors all along the value chain, from the feedstock supply to the final insect transformation.
The project will demonstrate a large-scale, first-of-its-kind bio-based value chain producing sustainable, safe and premium feed products from an innovative origin: the Tenebrio molitor insect (mealworm). The plant developed for FARMŸNG will exploit the physiological capabilities of mealworms physiology to efficiently convert vegetal by-products in mealworm biomass and will transform those mealworms into sustainable proteins and lipids for fish feed and pet food end markets. In parallel, manure will be recovered for soil fertilization applications.
FARMŸNG project, has been producing very good results which has led to the construction of the world’s largest vertical insect farm. The construction works of the plant located in Poulainville, in France, started on March 2020 and Ÿnfarm will be the largest global fully-automated flagship industrial plant to produce premium proteins from insects Tenebrio Molitor for pet & fish feed. (2)
Additionally, on 3 May 2021, the European Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed voted in favour of a draft legal act authorising dried yellow mealworm to be placed on the EU market as an approved “novel food”. The authorisation will provide for the product to be sold in whole, dried form or to be used as an ingredient in other foods and is the first authorisation of its kind. (3)
This project shows a successful and inspirational example for European’s bio-based economy, demonstrating the techno-economic viability of the first full-scale industrial plant for the production of sustainable and alternative-sourced proteins.
Further information about the project activities and results can be found here.
Sources:
(2) https://www.farmyng.eu/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-of-our-ynfarm-plant/
Joana Vide Pereira, Fasttrack Action