Robert Downey Jr.-backed insect protein company Ynsect has signed two major agreements to set up production sites in the United States with Ardent Mills and in Mexico with Corporativo Kosmos.
These agreements come alongside the company’s flagship facility – the world’s largest vertical insect farm in Amiens, France – entering the commissioning phase, the company said Thursday.
Ynsect, which has partnered with Nutreco-owned aquaculture feed giant Skretting, processes buffalo and molitor mealworms into feed for humans and animals. In the aquaculture feed sector, Ynsect focuses on salmon, but is eager to follow Skretting’s needs and branch out into other species such as trout or shrimp.
The partnership announcements in the United States and Mexico reflect Ynsect's ambition to build 10 to 15 farms worldwide by 2030, it said.
The agreements follow the arrival of the first insects on the company's site in France in recent weeks, Ynsect said.
The company has managed to raise a significant amount of money since its foundation in 2011, putting it in the pole position for supplying what could be a significant source of alternative protein for aquaculture feed.
