Tyson Foods and Dutch supplier Protix to establish US insect ingredients factory
by October 17, 2023 11:22 am 1,939 views
Springdale-based Tyson Foods plans to buy a minority stake in Protix, a Dutch company specializing in insect ingredients, in order to produce more sustainable protein.
According to a Tyson Foods news release on Tuesday (Oct. 17), the investment is for a minority stake, but the exact size was undisclosed.
“Our partnership with Protix represents the latest strategic investment by Tyson Foods in groundbreaking solutions that drive added value to Tyson Foods’ business,” John R. Tyson, chief financial officer of Tyson Foods, said in the release. “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.”
Protix is a fully integrated insect ingredients company, producing and processing 14,000 metric tons 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.
“We are very excited to announce the next step in our international growth strategy,” Protix CEO Kees Aarts said. “Tyson Foods’ and Protix’s strategic partnership advances our joint work towards creating high-quality, more sustainable protein using innovative technology and solutions. 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.”
As part of the investment, Tyson Foods and Protix are forming a joint venture to build an insect ingredients factory in the continental United States. The company did not disclose the location. It will house an enclosed system to support all aspects of insect protein production, including the breeding, incubating and hatching of insect larvae.
The factory aims to serve the pet-food market. In addition to ingredients for the aquaculture and pet food industries, processed larvae may also be used as ingredients within livestock and plant feed.
Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.
Shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) traded up about 0.5% at $47.66 in the late morning session Tuesday.