Arla Foods has teamed up with ENORM, Northern Europe’s largest insect farm, in a partnership announced today (Wednesday, December 6) to reduce dairy waste.
The partnership will centre around the use of delactosed permeate (DLP), which is a residual dairy stream generated in large volumes during lactose production, and is mostly used as material for biogas production, according to Arla Foods.
For years, Arla Foods had been supplying ENORM with DLP for trial production in creating nutritious feed for the black soldier fly larvae, which then acts as feed for livestock.
As a result of successful trials, ENORM is opening a new facility in Flemming and Denmark, and will then aim for full-scale production.
The amount of DLP supplied to ENORM will increase to 15 truckloads a week from early 2024.
When the new facility is up and running, it will be able to produce 100t of larvae daily. This will be enough for more than 10,000t of insect meal.
Black soldier fly larvae are high in protein and fat for animal feed, but also offer potential as a source of protein for humans, according to Arla Foods.
According to ENORM, with approximately 55% protein content, insect meal can be effectively incorporated as an ingredient in feeds for various animals, including fish, poultry, pigs, and pets.
ENORM stated: “Considering climate change and the increasing world population, effective circularity and sustainable food production have never been more crucial.”
The partnership will allow DLP to move up in the waste hierarchy. Arla Foods estimated that the partnership will enable its Danmark Protein facility to achieve a 16% reduction in food waste.
Senior sales developer at Arla Foods, Sønke Møller said: “This collaboration – which will see a by stream previously classified as food waste transformed into something with potentially huge nutritional value – is a fantastic example of companies working together to make upcycling a reality.”