NEWS 68 Alternative Proteins Magazine April 2025 Insect genetics company secures £2.1M investment Asahi Group Foods strengthens yeast business with new agreement Pioneering insect genetics company Beta Bugs secured a multimillion-pound investment as it looks to become a global leader in insect genetics. TRICAPITAL Angels led a £1.7 million investment into the business in 2023 – and followed up with a fresh £2.1 million cash injection alongside Scottish Enterprise. Beta Bugs was launched in Edinburgh in 2017 by CEO and founder Dr. Thomas Farrugia and is based at the Easter Bush Campus – a centre of excellence for animal genetics and home to the Roslin Institute. The investment is expected to enable Beta Bugs to further accelerate its development into an international player in Black Soldier Fly genetics, as well as enabling the company to scale up production of eggs and juvenile larvae to supply to insect farming operations. Over the past decade, black soldier fly farming has developed extensively as an industry. The larvae possess an ability to simultaneously divert food, agricultural and industrial waste from disposal and instead up-cycle it into a green, circular and regionally produced nutrient-rich ingredient for the pet, aqua and livestock sectors. As a result, black soldier fly farms are already being deployed by waste processors, retailers and food manufacturers to reduce their waste footprint, whilst producing an alternative feed to replace environmentally damaging soymeal and fishmeal production. Read more>> Asahi Group Foods, Ltd., a part of the Asahi Group, signed a share transfer agreement on March 5, 2025, with the shareholders of Germany-based Leiber GmbH, a brewer’s yeast-related products manufacturing and sales company with global operations, mainly in Europe. Under the agreement, Asahi Group Foods plans to acquire 100% of the shares of Leiber by the end of April 2025. Leiber was founded in 1954 and is a business-to-business beer yeast-related products company. It leverages strengths in product development proposals for customers to make and sell seasonings utilizing dried yeast, yeast extract, and yeast cell walls; functional ingredients; animal feed; and cell and microbial culture media. Leiber has six factories in Germany, Spain, and Poland and a sales network spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Through its acquisition of Leiber, Asahi Group Foods explains it gains a foundation for its yeast business in Europe. It will combine its yeast cultivation technology developed in Japan with processing technologies for yeast extract and yeast cell walls to strengthen its yeast business. This ensures its contribution to a sustainable society by addressing future food-related challenges, such as food shortages, protein deficiencies, and shifts in food cultures. Demand for yeast extract, a food ingredient made from yeast cells, has increased in recent years. It is a natural seasoning that enhances umami, a rich or meaty flavor; accentuates ingredients; and adds complexity to the taste of various foods. Read more>>
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