About Us
We believe in balancing sustainability and industrial-scale production.
In order to meet the increasing global demand for food, the feed industry will need to double its capacity over the next 30 years. Due to the European economy’s high import exposure, it is crucial to rely on local solutions in the industrial development process. A circular economy model that utilizes local resources can provide a sustainable, long-term solution to the growing shortage of raw materials. As such, alternative feed sources like feed meal and organic oil refined from insect larvae have emerged. Agroloop is focusing on developing insect farming on an industrial scale in the Central European region.
Evolutionary changes
Agroloop started the preparation of the project in the Climate-KIC sustainability incubation program in Holland in 2017.
Our test facility is operational. We carry out bioconversion tests of locally available industrial by-products on a range of different formulations.
Eprolius Hungary PLC joins the Agroloop project as main investor.
Based on infrastructure needs, the team starts assessing plant locations. The decision is made, the plant will be in the Aerozone Park in Üllő.
The project got the green light for implementation. Funders and the founders of Agroloop sign an investment agreement.
The first industrial-scale factory is running with full capacity, thus Agroloop become the number one insect meal player in CEE.
Our production processes take place in the closed and controlled environment of an industrial-scale, automated black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae farm. In our recirculating model, biomass at the bottom of the supply chain is fed to insect larvae and the larvae is used to produce premium feed materials. The main processes in the plant are larval feed production, propagation, rearing/fattening, and processing.
Our products are produced from the adult larvae through industrial processing. The black soldier fly can reproduce efficiently within the walls of the plant under controlled climatic conditions. After hatching, the larvae live for two to three weeks before pupating. On the farm the larvae consume a mixture of food by-products, which is then converted into body mass with high efficiency. The larvae of the BSF grow much faster than their peers and that makes them suitable for industrial breeding.
The growth in human population and the need for animal origin protein is generating unprecedented demand for food and feed. One of the biggest dilemmas facing agriculture today is how to meet – in particular – the unprecedented increase in protein demand. Classical farming methods cannot keep up with this pace and especially not in a sustainable way.
This is compounded by the estimated 500 million dogs and cats that live alongside the inhabitants of the earth. They consume around 20-25% of the world’s meat and fish processing. With the general rise in living standards, the number of pets will also increase significantly. The increasing demand for protein from the pet food industry needs to be met with premium quality products, which are sustainable and locally produced.
In the 8,000-year history of animal husbandry, animal protein source has been an important component of feed. Animal proteins have a broad spectrum of amino acid profile and because of this are an essential source of nutrients for our livestock. The positive effects on the health have evolutionary reasons. Animals have been on a mixed diet for millions of years and the lack of it in modern times is the most noticeable in the early growth phase.
Our products improve nutrient uptake in growing animals, strengthen the immune system and thereby reduce the chance of diseases. As a result of the overall health improvement and the need for antibiotics is significantly reduced. With these measurable increases? in feed conversion efficiencies, our products are emerging as a functional additive in the feed material market.
The quality of the feed of our pets is becoming increasingly difficult to monitor. In addition to traceability and superior quality, insect feeds have many positive health benefits.
The chitin content in the larvae has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which enhances liver function, stabilizes cholesterol levels and improves skin regeneration. 44% of the larval fat is lauric acid, which improves digestion. It also efficient in reducing the reproduction rates of the disease-causing pathogens and alleviates possible digestive disorders.
There are several sustainability considerations, which are worth to be highlighted in our activities. The by-products from the food industry are often inefficiently utilised. The organic matter they contain is released into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases during recovery processes. We use locally recovered food by-products to make fresh feed puree for our animals. The larvae rapidly increase their body weight to concentrate this wet biomass during the bioconversion process. Afterwards, the larvae is used to produce dry products with good shelf life and high nutritional value. These feed products and the compost excreted by the larvae are all returned to the supply chain. These locally produced products will now reduce our exposure to imports of unsustainably produced products, such as soy and fishmeal.