Aligned on the same vision since 2017 that to transform tomorrow’s food system, we will have to reinvent animal nutrition, InnovaFeed and Auchan launch today their third “insect powered” value chains with the pork, the second this year after the insect-fed chicken in June. Pork available for 5 months starting today in 4 Auchan supermarkets in France have been fed with a diet incorporating insect oil for a reduced carbon footprint and improved animal welfare
THE AMBITION TO REINVENT HUMAN FOOD THROUGH ANIMAL FEED
In 2017, InnovaFeed and Auchan entered what was at the time a unique partnership between a start-up company at the forefront of innovation and a global retailer to demonstrate that feeding tomorrow’s world with high-quality, sustainable and responsible food would force us to reinvent animal feed. Insect ingredients – the oil and the protein – brought to the table by InnovaFeed, offered actionable solutions.
By putting insects back to their natural place in the food chain – that of feeding animals such as swine, poultry or fish – InnovaFeed and Auchan aimed at launching responsible value chains in a pioneering farm-to-fork initiative.
“We are proud to see our partnership with Auchan continue to create breakthrough for the benefit of a more sustainable and high-quality food offering accessible to all. The launch of this new swine value chain demonstrates that another way to eat is possible. Building on this new success, we intend to continue to deploy these three value chains with Auchan and develop new emblematic projects that demonstrates the positive impact that the insect will have on our food in the years to come”, declares Clément Ray, InnovaFeed’s cofounder.
3 PIONNERING VALUE CHAINS IN 3 YEARS
3 years in their partnership, Auchan and InnovaFeed have brought their vision to life and imposed themselves as pioneers of sustainable agricultural value chains. Since the launch of the insect-fed trout in 2018, insect powered value chains have gone a long way: volumes for the trout doubled from 2019 to 2020 despite the difficult economic context, the insect-fed chicken was launched in June 2020 followed today by the swine.
Each of these value chains – the trout, the chicken and now the pork – are world premieres and demonstrates Auchan and InnovaFeed’s ability to bring together all players on the value chains from feed formulators, to farmers, processors or labels.
The success of these initiatives demonstrate concretely that these products meet consumers demands for more natural, sustainable and local products and that insect for feed make its way as an actionable solution in consumers’ minds. According to a survey by Kantar, 84% of the consumers declare themselves concerned about the environmental impact of their food and 30% are familiar with the use of the insect in the animal feed.
“To offer responsible and quality food to our customers, we reinforced our initiatives in collaboration with InnovaFeed by creating new value chains that respect the environment and animal welfare while preserving the taste of the products. This is how this new swine value chain was born. Meat from this sector will be marketed in our hypermarkets in Hauts-de-France from February 2nd” explains Nicolas Bonnetot, Fresh Food Director at Auchan Retail France.
A PIONEERING PORK VALUE CHAIN WITH REDUCED CARBON FOOTPRINT AND IMPROVED ANIMAL WELFARE
Insect oil produced by InnovaFeed has come to strengthen the value proposition of one of Auchan’s local and high-quality value chains called Le Porcilin. Since August 2020, 25% of Le Porcilin’s swine have received a diet incorporating insect oil in an effort to reduce the environmental footprint and further improve animal welfare. The Life Cycle Analysis published by InnovaFeed in December 2020 demonstrates that InnovaFeed’s insect oil has a CO2 impact and use of arable land 80% lower than vegetable oils. Naturally present in the diet of pigs in the wild, InnovaFeed’s insect oil is also rich in lauric acid, a fatty acid known for its antimicrobial properties, and have been demonstrated to improve swine’s gut health and welfare.
With this third value chain, InnovaFeed and Auchan hence demonstrate how novel ingredients such as insects can come to strengthen existing value chains and hence support local farmers and producers who develop quality products, whose origin and traceability are controlled, for the benefit of food safety and better taste quality.
“This approach with InnovaFeed and Auchan will allow us to promote the quality of our pig production to consumers and to perpetuate a local value chain with high value-added. This is a first step that we hope to see grow quickly” says Ghislain Lelong, Le Porcilin association President.
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