At the beginning of 2023, Skretting Chile began to deliver insect meal provided by Food for Future (F4F) in its salmon aquafeeds. Both companies extended the contract to 2024.

“Insect meal is an excellent raw material from the nutritional point of view and Skretting Global has been working on it since 2017. We have used insects in other markets and applied all this knowledge in Chile to ensure optimal performance and health of the fish. Insect meal is added to the list of novel ingredients such as algae oil and others that are still being tested,” said Rodrigo Silva, nutrition product manager at Skretting Chile.

The company partnered with Cermaq to use this feed at its freshwater centers. “The proposal from Skretting to incorporate insect meal in our diets represents a relevant step towards sustainability for our company. We recognize that achieving a positive impact requires time and we believe that initiating changes through the feed is essential to fulfill our goal of reducing emissions," said Maria Kahtrine Essmann, head of Feed and Fish Quality of Cermaq Chile. “The adoption of new protein sources, such as insect meal substituting traditional fish and vegetable meals, allow us to advance in our commitment to produce healthy protein with a low carbon footprint. Reducing the dependency on marine-based ingredients and supporting circular economy, we contribute to minimizing the environmental impact of our operations.”

Charles Booth, product manager of Fresh Water at Skretting Chile, highlighted the importance of being able to scale these ingredients to have alternatives that are cost-effective in the medium and long term. “It is essential that all actors involved in the value chain, both suppliers and producers, work to bring these ingredients to the market. No one can absorb the costs alone and, in that sense, we need to work hand-in-hand with producers to be able to achieve this."

“Innovative and sustainable ingredients such as insect meal are here to stay and at Skretting, we continue to make progress in increasing their incorporation. This is how we managed to take the next step by successfully incorporating, starting in Q4 2023, this ingredient in the new Coho diets for freshwater, with our Nutra Supreme Coho product,” concluded Booth.