Ÿnsect advances plans to “revolutionize” food system with new insect-based pet nutrition brand

09 May 2023 --- Ÿnsect has launched a B2B2C brand for the pet food market called Sprÿng. The brand’s ingredients are marketed with scientifically proven benefits and boast a low environmental impact. According to the French insect producer, Sprÿng embodies the company’s strategy to “revolutionize” the food system for humans and pets.

The new brand comes on the back of Ÿnsect’s previous announcement reaffirming the pet food market as one of the pillars of its short-term development strategy, alongside the opening of Amiens, the world’s largest vertical farm preparing to make its first deliveries in 2023. 

Part of the family 
Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Benjamin Armenjon, general manager for Animal Nutrition & Health at Ÿnsect, says as the number of pets in the world continues to grow, especially in Europe and the US, pet owners are becoming increasingly demanding to satisfy the specific needs of their companions. 

“Our pets are an extension of our family, and nothing is more important than your family’s health and safety,” he remarks. “With that in mind, we sought to maximize our customers’ pet’s quality of life by creating Sprÿng.”

Sprÿng offers highly technical products to help reduce the environmental footprint of pet food (Credit: Ÿnsect).“Our brand guarantees pet food manufacturers a sustainable option with the highest quality nutrition for their fur babies. It is the key to rebalancing our pet diets, providing nutrition and protecting the environment.”

Scaling up resources 
With Sprÿng, Ÿnsect intends to rapidly increase its order book, estimated at more than US$175 million in signed contracts and US$1 billion in contracts under negotiation, Armenjon tells us. 

“The scale-up intends to rapidly gain a strong position in this market, estimated to be worth US$78.4 billion by 2026,” he details.

Pet food is a huge market where Ÿnsect’s mealworm ingredients can respond well to the industry’s nutritional and sustainability needs, adds Armenjon. 

“Insect-based pet food has more than 50% acceptance among US pet owners and a study we carried out with OnePoll also found that 83% of dog and cat owners in the US would be willing to feed their pets insect-based ingredients.”

Embracing alt-proteins 
The company sees a rising demand from pet food companies to embrace alternative proteins, insects included. 

Armenjon says this is being driven by changing consumer needs. “Pet parents are becoming increasingly conscious of their pets’ ecological pawprints while wanting to continue to nourish their animals with high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals,” he explains.

“Digestibility is also a key concern for consumers. Our mealworm ingredients fulfill all of these requirements.”

Sprÿng offers easy-to-incorporate, neutral-tasting, odorless and light brown ingredients designed with the needs of pet food manufacturers in mind. 

Made using the Molitor mealworm, the ingredients are natural and highly nutritional and can be used to produce dry and wet pet food. The ingredients boast “the highest protein content in the insect market” (up to 71%), low ash content (less than 5%), and linolenic acids.

Moreover, compared to other ingredients with similar properties used in pet food, Sprÿng’s ingredients have a smaller environmental footprint. 

“We raise mealworms to provide a new qualitative food source for pets while limiting our impact. The contribution to climate change of one kilo of our Protein70 feed, for example, is 17 times lower than beef offal, but also lower than that of chicken offal,” adds Maximilien Jouy, impact manager at Ÿnsect.Ÿnsect believes its mealworm ingredients can respond well to the industry’s nutritional and sustainability needs (Credit: Ÿnsect).

A solution for world hunger?
Meanwhile, Antoine Hubert, CEO of Ÿnsect, says the company’s mission has always been to create a sustainable natural, healthy solution to combat world hunger. 

Ÿnsect started to deliver products to its first pet food customer in 2016. The company entered the US market in 2021, supplying high value-added protein to Pure Simple True – a dog food start-up based in Seattle, Washington, US – selling ultra-premium and luxury food for dogs under the Bernie’s brand.

Last month, Ÿnsect joined forces with the Lotte R&D Center, a Korean player in the tech industry, to accelerate the development of insect-based food in Asia. The Memorandum of Understanding signals the region’s path forward for insect-based F&B.

By Elizabeth Green