Piotr Postepski, CCO of Protix, explains that insect ingredients are increasingly recognised as functional ingredients for animal feed capable of enhancing animal health and performance.
With a plethora of health and performance benefits, insects offer a power solution as a feed ingredient for animals and plants. Many animals naturally eat insects, because they are packed with protein and nutrients. In addition, insects occur naturally in soil, where they benefit soil health and plant growth.
Protix offers insect ingredients for a variety of feed markets, including aquaculture, pigs, poultry, calf and plant feed. Protix’s insect ingredients include several functional components such as proteins, lauric acid, and chitin. These ingredients have been proven to support gut health, strengthen the immune system, and enhance animal performance.
To learn more about Protix and its insect-based solutions, The Innovation Platform spoke to Piotr Postepski, CCO of Protix.
Can you start by briefly outlining Protix as a company, your solutions, and your goals?
Established in 2009, Protix is the leading name in functional insect ingredients. Our portfolio of seven premium products, including meal, oil, puree, larvae, frass, Flytilizer (an organic fertiliser), and eggs, delivers health and performance benefits across a wide range of applications. We serve five main markets – aquaculture feed, livestock feed (poultry, pig, calves), plant care, pet food and insect farming – with our consistently high-quality solutions, helping our partners achieve better outcomes for animals, plants, and their businesses.
Our naturally sustainable ingredients deliver proven health and performance benefits, from gut and oral health to skin health. From our inception, scientific evidence has been at the core of everything we do. Science is in our DNA, driving continual innovation and unique insights. We collaborate closely with research institutes, universities, and customers to conduct rigorous tests and trials, ensuring our solutions remain at the forefront of the market.
We’re committed to delivering superior quality, time after time, achieved through state-of-the-art processing facilities. Exceptional ingredient quality is what distinguishes Protix in the market. Our flexible feedstock approach allows us to source a wide variety of GMP+ certified feedstocks for our animals. Combined with our proprietary genetics, rigorous production controls, and comprehensive testing, this ensures every product meets the highest standards.
Why did Protix choose to focus on the black soldier fly as the feed ingredient? What are the advantages of the BSF over other novel ingredients?
At Protix, we invested a lot of time and effort into researching the best insect, and the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) emerged as our insect of choice. Insects have one big advantage over other novel proteins and alternatives such as soy: they devour waste, which is a huge problem across the world.
Other reasons to choose the black soldier fly include:
- Efficient conversion: This creature excels at efficiently converting organic waste into valuable nutrients.
- Highly nutritious: Black soldier flies are rich in the protein and other nutrients that are essential for animals.
- Reliable yield: The black soldier fly has a very short lifecycle compared to other insects, growing from egg to adult larvae in just two weeks, which allows for a fast and stable production cycle and reliable yields.
- Proven low footprint: Black soldier flies can be grown in a vertical farm and can realise a massive reduction in CO2 emissions and land and water use.
- Local production: The flies can be grown close to where they are needed.
What potential do novel ingredients have to transform agriculture?
Insect ingredients have significant transformational power. They are functional ingredients, which customers can use to create feed that supports healthier and high-performing animals and plants. The agricultural markets we serve span poultry, pigs, aquafeed, and plant care. Across these sectors, our aim is to restore the natural order by bringing insects back into the food chain. This process adds nutrients that would not be available through direct consumption of the waste by livestock.
Insect ingredients also help reduce environmental impact. There is strong appetite among farmers, whether intrinsically motivated, responding to consumer demand, or meeting legislative requirements, to make products and processes more environmentally friendly. Insect ingredients have a low footprint. Research by the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) has shown that, compared to traditional protein sources like soy protein concentrate, Protix’s insect meal can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 89% and significantly lower land and water use.
Finally, insect ingredients can create circular food chains with, for example, the major supermarket chains. The concept is that Protix accepts organic waste from retailers which is then fed to our flies. The insects convert this waste into valuable nutrients that are used in animal and plant feed. As fish, meat, and vegetables produced with these feeds are consumed, new organic waste is created, continuing the cycle.
What does the landscape of the insect sector look like at present and what are the key changes that need to be made?
Interest in insect ingredients is growing. We see more and more farms starting trials and reaping the benefits of insect ingredients for their animals and the planet. Increasingly, consumers are embracing insect ingredients as a tasty, nutritious option for animal feed that also shrinks the footprint. While some people are still learning about the benefits of insect ingredients, the growing scientific evidence for health claims speaks for itself.
Step by step, Protix is unlocking the full potential of insect ingredients through scientific research and further upscaling. Looking ahead, we actively welcome the opportunity to partner with forward-thinking livestock and aquaculture farmers for new on-farm trials. These trials offer farmers a chance to experience first-hand how premium insect ingredients can enhance their animals’ health and performance. Throughout each trial, the Protix scientists work closely together with the farmers, providing expert guidance and support. By collaborating in trials, new value can be unlocked for businesses, animals, and the environment.
How can government and regulatory bodies support change in the insect sector?
Government and regulatory bodies play a crucial role in accelerating progress within the insect sector. One of the most impactful ways to support growth is by permitting the use of lower-grade waste (e.g. supermarket waste streams) as feed for black soldier flies. This change would enable the sector to contribute even more effectively to sustainable waste management and circular economy goals. Another way to support the sustainable insect sector is to implement sustainability norms for feed products, in a similar manner as was done to make kerosine/air transport more sustainable (since 2025, a mandatory inclusion of 2% Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Kerosine applies pursuant to the ReFuel Aviation Regulation, increasing to 70% in 2050). The same approach could be applied for feed products – making the inclusion of sustainable protein (such as insect protein) mandatory in feed products, gradually replacing unsustainable commodities such as soy protein.
Additionally, providing access to public funds (such as the Common Agricultural Policy) and other incentives, similar to those available in other farming sectors, would drive further adoption of insect-based feed and help foster innovation and upscaling to get the right volumes in the market for livestock, aquaculture, and plant feed.
Finally, governments and regulatory bodies can also play an important role in educating the public about the benefits of insect ingredients. While the use of insect ingredients is becoming increasingly mainstream, there is still work to be done to raise awareness and build trust. Government support in promoting the industry, in line with the efforts of organisations such as the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), would be highly valuable.
By taking these steps, policymakers can help unlock the full potential of the insect sector, benefiting agriculture, the environment, and society as a whole.
Please note, this article will also appear in our Animal Health Special Focus publication.
