The European Union has approved Malaysia as a third party importer of insect-based ingredients. Nutrition Technologies is the first company in Malaysia, approved to import insectmeal into EU & UK markets.
European Approval
In June of 2022 insect producers in Malaysia became eligible to export insect-based material to the EU for the first time, following Malaysia’s inclusion on the list of countries approved to export insects and insect-based products to the EU, joining a small selection of countries including; Canada, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and South Korea, with permission to do so. This is a boon for the Malaysian economy, a major food producer which is heavily reliant on agricultural exports. On the 19 of February 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture approved Nutrition Technologies to export its insectmeal and oil into the EU & UK markets, making it one of a handful of companies around the world, and the first in Malaysia with this level of approval. Previously only available to customers across Asia-Pacific, this development opens the doors to the rapidly growing insect-based petfood sector in Europe, which is leading the way in sustainable petfood production. Nutrition Technologies manufacture and supply insect protein meal, oil and frass (insect manure) to help feed the growing agriculture and feed industries around the world. Using a combination of beneficial microbes and Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) using a low-energy, zero-waste production model to grow their insects, the larvae are reared on clean and traceable agro-industrial by-products. The insect-based products are suitable for application in pet food, livestock and aquatic feed, and have a range of proven functional benefits which improve the animals’ health and growth. The insectmeal is also suitable for therapeutic applications in pets that have allergies to common petfood proteins such as beef and lamb. What’s attractive to many manufacturers is the potential impact on GHG emissions that can be achieved through switching to insect-based meats in place of traditional protein sources, as approximately 25 percent of the GHGs associated with meat production is generated through use in petfood. Since tropically farmed insects produce a fraction of the GHG emissions of traditional meat – this can make a big impact on the carbon footprint of petfood production.
The insectmeal is produced to the highest international safety & hygiene standards with full batch traceability, where the larvae are fed only vegetable-based agro-industrial materials such as palm and grain by-products. The insectmeal is fully compliant with EU regulations, and the facility is both GMP & HACCP certified.
Nutrition Technologies have a low-energy tropical production system that uses a unique combination of micro-organisms and Black Soldier Flies to bioconvert 60,000 tonnes of waste organic by-products into its value-adding products. As a tropical species, the Black Soldier Fly larvae grow quickly and efficiently in the ambient Malaysian climate, meaning that very little energy is required to grow or breed the flies. This low-energy model means that the company benefits from a very low cost of production, but with the same high standards as any European or North American manufacturer, and is able to pass-on those savings to the customer. This makes Nutrition Technologies’ products one of the most competitively priced insect products in the world. The company currently ships industrial volumes of material throughout Asia & South America, from the two hectare factory in Malaysia.
“This is a significant step forward in giving European petfood manufacturers more sustainable options in their choice of feed ingredients. While there is a rapidly growing demand for sustainable petfoods, there is very little product available in Europe. This development opens the door for new manufacturers to release insect-based products, and for existing manufacturers to both reduce their costs and improve their environmental footprint,” says Nick Piggott, Co-CEO and Co-founder, Nutrition Technologies.
The insect sector has gathered increasing attention over the past few years, with the global insect protein market alone estimated to be worth US$343 million in 2021, and expected to grow with a CAGR of 26.49 percent to reach US$1.3 billion by 2027. As a sustainable solution to help minimise multiple unsustainable practices, the sector as a whole has seen investments totalling nearly US$1 billion, but with multiple technological hurdles, few companies are yet to reach industrial scale.
For more information visit the Nutrition Technologies website, HERE.
