Tyson Foods has reached an agreement for a two-fold investment with Protix, a global insect ingredients company.
The strategic investment will support the growth of the emerging insect ingredient industry and expand the use of insect ingredient solutions to create more efficient sustainable proteins and lipids for use in the global food system.
The agreement combines Tyson Foods’ global scale, experience and network with Protix’s technology and market leadership to meet current market demand and scale production of insect ingredients.
Through a direct equity investment, the Springdale, Arkansas-based company will acquire a minority stake in Protix to help fund its global expansion. In addition, the companies have entered a joint venture for the operation and construction of an insect ingredient facility in the U.S.
Upon completion, it will be the first at-scale facility of its kind to upcycle food manufacturing byproducts into high-quality insect proteins and lipids which will primarily be used in the pet food, aquaculture and livestock industries.
“Our partnership with Protix represents the latest strategic investment by Tyson Foods in groundbreaking solutions that drive added value to Tyson Foods’ business,” said John R. Tyson, chief financial officer of Tyson Foods.
“The insect lifecycle provides the opportunity for full circularity within our value chain, strengthening our commitment to building a more sustainable food system for the future.”
The facility will house an enclosed system to support all aspects of insect protein production, such as the breeding, incubating and hatching of insect larvae. In addition to ingredients for the aquaculture and pet food industries, processed larvae may also be used as ingredients within livestock and plant feed.
“We are very excited to announce the next step in our international growth strategy. Tyson Foods’ and Protix’s strategic partnership advances our joint work towards creating high-quality, more sustainable protein using innovative technology and solutions,” said Kees Aarts, CEO of Protix.
“Moreover, we can immediately use their existing byproducts as feedstock for our insects. This agreement is a major milestone for Protix and significantly accelerates our ambition to grow through international partnerships.”
Protix is a fully integrated insect ingredients company, producing and processing 14,000 metric tons LLE annually in its Netherlands facility, which has been in operation since 2019. It serves major global companies in the pet food, aquaculture feed, livestock feed and organic fertilizer industries as the demand for insect ingredients continues to grow.
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