Canada's minister of agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau announced yesterday up to $6 million to help Entosystem Inc. build a new fully-operational facility in Drummondville, Quebec that will increase production of sustainable, insect-based products to feed animals.

Entosystem has developed an innovative process that minimizes each stage of the production lifecycle enabling faster conversion to a final product while maintaining the high nutrition and protein levels in the black soldier fly. The black soldier flies feed on organic waste, resulting in a high-quality, protein-rich product to feed animals. The project will play an important role in contributing to a more sustainable food system and build the company's reputation as a leader in the field of using insects as a reliable food source.

By taking action with investments in production facilities such as Entosystem, the Government of Canada is helping players along the food supply chain to commercialize and adopt new ways to eliminate, reduce, or repurpose food waste.

"The use of insects to speed up the process of composting food waste is a promising solution for the environment," said Bibeau. "By recovering products intended for landfill, Entosystem creates value-added products, generates a zero-waste circular economy and contributes to the achievement of our climate targets. The government of Canada's investment in the company's new facilities will allow it to increase its production of alternative proteins for animal feed and fertilisers, which are essential inputs for the agricultural industry."

At its new facility, Entosystem expects to transform 250 tonnes of organic waste daily by 2024 (compared to its current rate of 6 tonnes/day) and create close to 70 new full-time positions. Ultimately, this investment will enable the company to reduce food waste, use of landfills and GHG emissions through the diversion of organic waste.

Every year, over half of Canada's food supply is wasted, and nearly $50 billion of that wasted food is avoidable. By encouraging more solutions to food waste in Canada, we can strengthen our food systems and support Canada's transition to a greener economy.