The British Columbia-based insect and insect-based feed production company announced Thursday [August 23] that it was planning for three new production facilities based in Canada and the US. Each new facility is expected to cost about $30m to build.
The expansion in facilities is being supported by a recent funding round, long-standing investors and the addition of three new major funding partners, the company said. New partners include ADM Capital’s Cibus Fund, German-based PHW Group and a Canadian family-owned investment group.
The three new funding partners are expected to go beyond providing financial investment, said Geoff Gyles, Enterra CEO. All three also are anticipated to provide hands-on help as the Enterra develops its global expansion plans.
The funding generated during the round raises the company’s valuation to more than $100m, a company spokesperson told FeedNavigator. However, the Enterra Feed Corporation is privately-held and not releasing more information about the amount raised at this time.
The new facilities will allow the company to expand its production of insect-based feed ingredients, Enterra said. The company has been using recycled pre-consumer food waste to produce black soldier fly larvae and generate animal feed ingredients.
The building push comes after Enterra received approvals to sell insect-derived products for salmonids and for fish and poultry in the US and Canada, respectively. It also has approvals registered in the EU for its products to be used in aquaculture.
Product sales have tripled annually, the company reported, with interest from the aquaculture, poultry and pet food industries looking to replace ingredients including fishmeal, soybean meal, coconut oil and palm kernel oil.
Building project highlights
The first of the three facilities to be built is located in Balzac, Alberta – outside of Calgary, the spokesperson said. Construction has already started on the site.
The second facility is also set to be located in Canada, but in the area around Vancouver, she said. It is anticipated to be a replacement for the company’s current production facility at Langley.
The third facility is expected to be located in central Ohio, near Columbus. Additional production facilities also are expected to be announced in coming years.
Several factors are examined when siting a new production facility, said the spokesperson. “The primary factor is feedstock – the pre-consumer food waste inputs that we use to feed our insects,” she added.
“There has to be enough acceptable material available within a certain radius of each facility to make it viable,” she said. “Balzac, Alberta was a great choice for our next facility because it’s close to our home base, there is readily available feedstock and there were many suitable buildings ready to move into.”
The facility in Balzac is expected to be completed in 2019, with the facility in British Columbia following in 2020, the company reported. The US facility is anticipated to be online in 2021.
The three facilities are intended to be their own operations with the ability to raise the black soldier fly larvae used in Enterra products, said the spokesperson. “As our products and markets continue to develop, there is potential for our facilities to become more specialized,” she added.