Aquaculture for all

Searching for feed firms with the X-factor

Feed ingredients Competitions +1 more

The latest installment of FEED-X, an initiative that aims to radically transform the global aquafeed industry, has officially begun today.

In partnership with Skretting, Climate-KIC, WWF and IKEA, FEED-X is now welcoming applications for sustainable feed innovations from entrepreneurs eager to commercialise their ideas.

The goal of the FEED-X programme is to ensure that the global aquafeed industry can produce enough food to support the growing world population by sourcing 10 percent of its raw materials from novel, alternative solutions. It aims to achieve this by 2025 – through sourcing, testing, financing and scaling alternative feed ingredients and technologies that affect feed.

The competition aims to inspire feed firms to include at least 10 percent novel, sustainable raw materials in their formulations by 2025

The programme will focus on salmon and shrimp: widely aquacultured species with different feed requirements and industry structures. Project X has already hosted a category de-risking event where experts from Harvard University, Wageningen University Research and Utrecht University, among others, presented their key findings.

Christoph Mathiesen, sustainability developer at IKEA, shared his commitment to the programme: “IKEA Food is committed to securing a more sustainable supply chain for our food business. We know that animal feed such as salmon feed can have negative impact on the climate, environment and biodiversity. We see the collaboration with Project X as a great opportunity to support sustainable food systems and accelerate the innovation in animal feed.”

FEED-X has lead partner support from one of the largest animal and aquaculture feed suppliers in the world – Nutreco, and its aquaculture division Skretting - which represent a significant share of the global feed market and €5.9 billion of purchasing power. Strategic and financial support for the FEED-X programme has also come from IKEA (IKEA Supply AG), WWF and EIT Climate-KIC, and technical support from UNEP-One Planet, and Cambridge University.

The co-ordinated approach between organisations in the FEED-X programme will give entrepreneurs rare access to markets and allow them to commercialise their outstanding sustainable alternative feed solutions at scale.

The application is a two-stage process. Project X invites innovators to fill in the Expression of Interest form by 10 May, after which they will be provided with the application form. The applications will then be independently reviewed by an expert panel including high-profile individuals from a range of sectors. Applications will be accepted no later than 15 May.

Create an account now to keep reading

It'll only take a second and we'll take you right back to what you were reading. The best part? It's free.

Already have an account? Sign in here