Volare opens Finnish insect protein plant with 5,000-tonne capacity

FINLAND – Insect agriculture company Volare has completed its first industrial-scale production facility in Pori, Finland, with capacity to produce up to 5,000 tonnes of insect protein and 2,000 tonnes of oil annually using black soldier fly larvae.

The company said it completed the €15 million (US$16.6 million) facility on schedule and within budget. 

Built inside a former newspaper printing facility, the plant uses locally sourced food-industry side streams to rear the larvae and is designed to operate with four employees per shift.

A significant share of its production capacity has already been sold, with offtake agreements including aquafeed manufacturer Skretting and an unnamed global chemicals company. 

Volare is preparing to develop a second industrial-scale facility after raising a further €7.1 million ( US$7.7 million) through Springvest.

The company has sold insect protein commercially from a demonstration-scale site since 2022. 

Previous applications include dog treats developed with Alvar Pet, cat food with VAFO Group and rainbow trout feed through a collaboration with Alltech Fennoaqua. Its protein has also been used in organic poultry feed.

Volare chief executive Jarna Hyvönen said European pet-food manufacturers were interested in insect ingredients where suppliers could demonstrate high product quality and reliable availability.

Supply security matters most to aquafeed manufacturers, which need consistent ingredient volumes and specifications. 

Hyvönen said insect protein’s commercial potential depends on factors including digestibility, palatability, health benefits, price and availability.

The company is also seeking to manage production costs while operating within European restrictions on insect-farming feedstocks. 

Current EU rules limit the use of post-consumer catering waste and most animal by-products as substrates for farmed insects. 

Hyvönen said Volare’s business model does not depend on these rules being relaxed, adding that energy use, labour requirements and wastewater costs offer other opportunities to improve production economics.

Volare has developed a dry process for producing protein meal that it says reduces energy consumption by about 30%. 

It has also developed a frass sanitisation process that uses approximately 50% less energy, according to the company.

The facility marks another step in scaling insect-derived ingredients for animal feed, with contracted demand and production efficiency likely to shape the company’s next expansion phase.

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