Insect ag startup Volare has completed its first industrial-scale facility in Pori, Finland, “on schedule and within its €15 million ($16.6 million) CAPEX budget” to produce up to 5,000 tons of insect protein and 2,000 tons of oil per year.
The facility, which is designed to operate with four people per shift, was built in a former newspaper printing facility, and uses locally available food-industry side streams to feed black soldier fly larvae.
A significant share of production capacity has already been sold, with offtake agreements in place with customers including aquafeed giant Skretting and an unnamed global chemical company.
Volare has been selling its protein commercially from a demo-scale site since 2022, developing dog treats with Alvar Pet, cat food with VAFO Group, and rainbow trout feed via a collaboration with Alltech Fennoaqua. Its protein has also been used in organic poultry feed.
Supported by €7.1 million ($7.7 million) in new funding raised through Springvest, Volare is now preparing for a second industrial-scale facility.
EU feedstock rules not a dealbreaker
CEO Jarna Hyvönen told AgFunderNews pet food producers in Europe are interested “as long as ingredients are of high quality and there is security of supply.”
For insect oil, she said, “The markets are in an interesting situation due to new regulations affecting other markets using the same oils as pet foods and feeds. This is putting pressure on the availability of oils for all the industries that need them, including chemicals, biofuels and feeds [and potentially making insect oil more competitive].”
Asked about the impact of EU rules that block insect farms from using post-consumer food waste and most animal by-products as feed, she said: “Over time, we see that the rules can be loosened… however, our business model is not based on this change.
“Although feedstock plays an important role in cost structure, you can affect other major cost items by smart choices in power supply and usage, labor needs, and the factory’s wastewater costs, thereby reducing unit costs, and continue to serve customers who are de-risking their supply chains by sourcing from Europe.”
Asked if insect protein is starting to look more competitive as fishmeal prices have surged, she said: “Yes, but I’d say the bigger story is structural, not just about price. Fishmeal is a finite resource. According to the FAO, around 85% of assessed marine fish stocks are already fished at their maximum sustainable level or overfished, so fishmeal production simply isn’t growing.
“Meanwhile, the industries that depend on it, especially aquaculture, are growing by around 5% a year. Add events like El Niño, when fishing seasons and quotas get restricted, and you get the kind of price spikes we’ve been seeing. The world needs new protein sources regardless of where fishmeal prices are in any given month.”
She added: “For us, the key has always been to compete on cost and performance, not to depend on high fishmeal prices.”
Learning from industry pioneers
According to Hyvönen, firms building plants today have learned from the mistakes of the pioneers in the space. “It doesn’t make sense to reinvent the wheel and having as much as fancy technology as possible is not the point. The point is to make it efficient and make it work, so there are things that definitely make sense to automate, but not all of the process, for example.”
She added: “We have a specific dry process for protein meal production that reduces energy usage by about 30% and we’ve figured out a process to hygienize the frass where we use about 50% less energy. We also kept project management and engineering in-house for instead of bringing in external consultants. That gives us much tighter control over costs.”
Volare is now evaluating locations in Europe and beyond for factory #2, she said.
“Ideally, the second factory will have roughly five times the protein capacity of Volare 01, around 20,000–30,000 tons of protein a year. The most important factor is a reliable supply of suitable food-industry side streams close to the site.”
For customers in aquafeed, she says, “Security of supply is a big thing and insect ag is closer to scaling than many of the other novel protein solutions. When it comes to product quality, it’s about digestibility, palatability, and health benefits as well as price and availability.”
Further reading:
FlyBox founder: Insect farming can work in Europe, but not as a VC-backed protein play
Insect ag recalibrates after a brutal shakeout: Where are the key players now?
InsectBiotech Raises $8.3m to scale BSFL production in Andalusia, Spain
