Canada injects $6.5M million to support insect pet food production

The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced an investment of up to CAD$ 8.5 million ($6.5M / €6.3M) to support an insect production facility from Aspire Food Group.

With this investment, the manufacturer will be able to use smart technology to grow billions of crickets – most of them for pet food – in its facility in London (Ontario).

The funding also aims to improve Aspire’s technology and cut its cost of production, making its products “more attractive for sale in domestic and international markets” for health food and pet businesses.

“Aspire is re-imagining what it means to sustainably produce food, and how smart technology can turn that vision into a reality,” claimed Francis Drouin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The company expects to reach its full production capacity of 1,000 metric tons per month by the first quarter of 2023.

“We see exciting growth in demand for cricket ingredients in pet food and expect this growth to continue to outpace other protein sources, including alternative proteins, due to the inherent advantages of scalability, sustainability and supply chain”, Aspire co-founder and CEO Mohammed Ashour told GlobalPETS.

Supporting innovation

This funding falls under AgriInnovate, a 5-year program designed to help businesses commercialize innovative agri-based products, technologies, processes or services that increase competitiveness and sustainability.

A spokesperson for the Canadian government told GlobalPETS that these investments will allow national companies to compete globally with other producers of black soldier flies.

 “We will continue to support innovation in Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector, to ensure Canada continues to be a global agricultural leader,” they claimed. 

This is not the first time that the Canadian government has invested in this segment. The AgriInnovate program also provided CAD$ 6 million ($4.64M / €4.44M) to support Entosystem, a tech solutions provider for insect breeding based in Quebec, and Alberta-based Enterra Feed Corporation to develop their innovative processes to convert black soldier flies to produce protein-rich products.

What’s happening in the rest of the world?

As alternative sources of protein, insects provide an invaluable opportunity to ensure more sustainable food by using less water, energy and space, while emitting less greenhouse gas emissions during the production process.

Other companies in the sector have benefited from financial support from governments in recent years. In 2020, the UK government gave £10 million ($12M / €11.5M) in funding to farming start-up Entocycle to build a new facility for the animal food industry.

Also in 2020, French insect farming startup Ÿnsect raised in 2020 $224 million (€214M) in Series C funding to build “the “largest insect farm in the world” near Paris. The financing was partly supported by a bank consortium including French government-linked investor Caisse des Dépôts, Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie, and Caisse d’Epargne Hauts-de-France.

In Australia, the Buggy Bix insect-based dog treats manufacturer is funded by AgriFutures Australia, a body set by the Australian government to help fund research and development in rural industries