VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/16/15 -- Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corporation, developer of an innovative, proprietary process that up-cycles discarded food into concentrated protein, natural oils and organic fertilizer, has formed a joint venture with Entomeal S.A. in Switzerland.
"We are very pleased to be working with Entomeal to expand commercial operations into Europe," said Brad Marchant, Chief Executive Officer of Enterra. "Entomeal is already well advanced in the use of black soldier fly technology to convert waste food into valuable feed ingredients and their founders have proven track records in business and the feed industry. Our world-leading technology, combined with their local expertise through this joint venture will verify and catalyze Enterra's growth into the region."
Pierre-Olivier Christen, President of Entomeal, said, "Entomeal is looking forward to working with Enterra to establish the first commercial scale insect-rearing facility in Europe using black soldier fly larvae to up-cycle pre-consumer waste organics, as a stepping stone to further expansion in the region. The Swiss plant, to be located in Kerzers in the canton of Freiburg, will process primarily waste vegetables and fruits from local farming and food processing activities, providing a sustainable solution to the region's growers and processors, as well as creating 15 new full time jobs for the local community."
Enterra and Entomeal have been working in collaboration since 2014 to establish sources of traceable, pre-consumer food inputs required for a new facility that will have a capacity to treat 36,000 tonnes per year of waste organics, with expansion plans to 54,000 tonnes per year in the second year of operation. The joint venture is currently limited to Switzerland and will operate under the name of BSF Farms S.A. based in Geneva. The two companies have completed a Project Review Report, which showed positive project economics to support further investment, and have recently initiated detailed engineering and initial procurement to complete the final project budget and construction schedule. Project permitting has been in progress since early 2015. The joint venture project is subject to completion of detailed engineering and permitting as well as approval of the Board of Directors of Entomeal and Enterra.
The joint venture plans to produce a meal product, which has been approved for use in Switzerland as an ingredient for aquaculture; a concentrated natural oil product also used as a feed ingredient in aquaculture, poultry farming, and animal feed preparations; and a natural organic fertilizer product used for early stage crop growth, seed inoculation and natural pest control for organic farming, horticulture and home applications. Local independent trials of the fertilizer product for use in Switzerland have been initiated at Agroscope, Institut des sciences en production vegetale IPV.
Entomeal will be the operator of the joint venture in Switzerland, responsible for feedstock supply and product sales on behalf of the joint venture. Capital costs, operating costs and project revenues will be shared by the joint venture partners. All products will be sold under license using the Enterra brand.
For more information, visit www.enterrafeed.com.
Contacts:
Enterra Contacts:
Karen Cook
karen@cookpublicrelations.com
+1 604 551 9074
Brad Marchant
bmarchant@enterrafeed.com
+1 604 889 0119
Entomeal Contact:
Pierre-Olivier Christen
info@entomeal.ch
+4122 5753401
