Grasshoppers fed up on bread and brewery waste could not compete with soy and fish meal.
Last summer, Salmon Group secured extensive media coverage after signing a deal with start-up Metapod.
“Salmon Group and Metapod pave the way for a new, locally produced protein source, which will be used in salmon feed, among other things. Industrial processing of grasshoppers provides a nutritious insect meal that will provide competition to soy and fish meal, which in today’s diet is a rich source of protein. In addition, it benefits from a “problem resource” from other food production,” it wrote in a press release in connection with the signing of the agreement.
Volume
Metapod did not have any production of grasshoppers, and this insect species has so far not been used as an ingredient in the salmon’s diet. But Metopod was supposed to build a factory that would be responsible for the production of locusts.
Like salmon, the locusts also need feed. But there are not much leftovers from bread and brewery production, as mentioned by the company in an earlier press release. Especially if you’re going to a significant volume.
Read more: Start-up cannot produce grasshopper feed for Salmon Group yet
Permission
At the end of June last year, SalmonBusiness revealed that Metapod was not permitted to use grasshoppers as a source of protein in salmon feed. According to a regulatory amendment in the EU, crickets were allowed to breed for use as feed, while grasshoppers were not.
According to a press release on Wednesday, Metapod informed Salmon Group that it cannot meet the conditions of the contract. The parties have thus agreed that the cooperation agreement Metapod entered into with Salmon Group ceases.
This has emerged at a meeting this week where Salmon Group requested a briefing on the status of the project. The industrial volume on which the agreement is based cannot be done.
Sustainable
“Salmon Group really believed in this initiative and we are of course first and foremost sorry that the project did not succeed and that we cannot use this raw material now. We are continuing to work on alternative raw materials that will further contribute to sustainable production of salmon and trout,” said Jan Olav Langeland, CEO of Salmon Group, in a press release.
Salmon Group apologised for what has occurred and continues its search for new, sustainable feed ingredients.
