Tapping into wisdom from nature, we see the self-sustaining cycle of flora and fauna operating on a fundamentally circular blueprint. In any ecosystem, decaying organic matter is the starting point for new life. Nutrients are efficiently recaptured and redeployed to the soil by a system of microorganisms and animals, with insects playing a crucial role as master bioconverters.
Director
Protenga
HOW NATURE’S BIOCONVERTERS BRIDGE THE GAP, INDUSTRIALLY
Food waste is more than just a lost resource; it reflects the shortfalls of our food system. By learning from nature’s circular blueprint, insects show us how nutrients can be recovered and turned into feed. The idea of insect farming takes this principle to deliver circular ingredients at commercial scale, consistently and profitably, for the feed industry.
PRESSURES ON THE MODERN FEED INDUSTRY
For every tonne of food eaten, another is wasted. This isn’t just the statistics on food loss; it’s the inevitable outcome of a linear supply chain by design. The water, land, energy, and complex feed formulations invested in our food are all discarded along with it.
Traditionally, the industry has treated these organic side-streams as a financial burden, a waste disposal problem to be managed. This reliance on a linear model creates mounting pressures. Ingredients like fishmeal and soy face volatile prices and growing scrutiny over their environmental footprint, exposing supply chain fragility. Simultaneously, consumers and regulators are demanding more sustainable and functional ingredients. This creates a critical need for a new generation of raw materials that are not only sustainable but also cost-efficient, consistent, and reliable at scale. The industry needs a solution that can bridge the gap between the rising demand for high-performance feed and the limitations of the current supply chain.
What if this “waste” wasn’t an endpoint, but a new beginning waiting for the right technology? What if it could become the very fuel for the next generation of feed?
NATURE’S BLUEPRINT: INSECTS AS MASTER BIOCONVERTERS
Tapping into wisdom from nature, we see the self-sustaining cycle of flora and fauna operating on a fundamentally circular blueprint. In any ecosystem, decaying organic matter is the starting point for new life. Nutrients are efficiently recaptured and redeployed to the soil by a system of microorganisms and animals, with insects playing a crucial role as master bioconverters.
While many companies have gained insights from this observation and have tried to mimic the forests, current technologies fall short at industrial scales. Composting is slow and produces lower-value output. Anaerobic digestion can recover energy, but only at high cost. And unfortunately, the most ‘practical’ option remains still too often the least sustainable: landfill and incineration. Neither delivers the high-quality protein the feed industry needs.
The challenge is therefore not theoretical but practical: How do we take the nutrient recapture role of insects and turn it into an industrial process that is reliable, economical, and scalable?
DECENTRALISATION: BRINGING THE FARM TO THE WASTE
To industrialise this natural process, we must begin with the logic of the raw material itself. Unlike consolidated commodities like grain or soy, organic side-streams are wet, heavy, geographically scattered, and often spoil quickly. Transporting this low-value, high-volume material over long distances creates enormous costs in fuel, labour, and carbon, eroding the value we aim to create. The most effective strategy, therefore, is not to fight the distributed nature of this resource, but to embrace it.
This is why decentralisation has become a central idea in insect industrialisation. Medium-scale, modular systems allow insect conversion to happen closer to the source. What is transported is no longer low-value waste but stable, higher-value ingredients.
This approach also shifts the role of industry actors. Instead of a few central processors managing logistics, decentralised models invite orchestrators who coordinate many smaller nodes of farms and processors into a functioning network. Waste is valorised locally, ingredients are standardised through protocols and technology, and trade platforms connect supply with demand. In this way, insect farming resembles not just biology scaled up, but also an infrastructure for distributed nutrient recovery (Figure 1).
Source: Protenga
INGREDIENTS WITH A CIRCULAR STORY
The products that emerge from insect conversion are familiar to the feed sector: Protein, oil, fertiliser, but they carry with them a different story. They are not only functional ingredients, but embodiments of a system where waste is recaptured and revalued.
At Protenga, we’ve been working since 2016 to industrialise the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), one of nature’s most efficient recyclers of organic matter through the Smart Insect Farm (SIF). We are leaders in upcycling waste streams from palm oil mills into valuable insect-based products:
• Hermet Protein: A high-quality protein that de-risks feed supply chains from reliance on volatile fishmeal. With stable amino acid profiles and digestibility, it offers a consistent and sustainable alternative for aquafeed and livestock formulations.
• Cens+ Palatant: A natural flavour enhancer derived from the BSF larvae, offering an alternative to chicken liver hydrolysates or synthetic additives. Its clean-label profile makes it particularly valuable in hypoallergenic and premium formulations, where conventional animal-based palatants may not be suitable.
• Hermet Oil: A functional lipid source rich in lauric acid that enhances palatability and energy in feed formulations.
• Hermet Frass: A nutrient-rich organic fertiliser that restores soil health, completing the circular economy loop and providing a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilisers and synthetic agri-inputs.
Through years of industrialisation, automation, and data-driven farming, we have built processes that move the biology from backyard compost bins to a predictable, scalable industrial platform. Our SIF is a modular, turnkey system that transforms 10 to 40 metric tonnes per day of organic byproducts into high-value insect protein, oil, and frass, close to the source.
This model creates dual value for feedstock suppliers and for animal feed producers. For palm oil mills, farms, and processors, side-streams like fruit sludges are bulky, wet, and costly to manage. For feed companies, the same model delivers a steady, predictable flow of insect ingredients. Because BSF larvae thrive on palm oil byproducts, the products offer stable and favourable amino acid profile, lipid quality, health-promoting effects and functional benefits. This consistency is critical for dependable, scalable inclusion in high-performing compound feed.
Operating on as little as 1500m² and only four operators, the SIF allows mills, farms, and processors to valorise their side-streams without needing large land footprints or specialised expertise. At its heart is InsectOS, our proprietary farm management software that de-risks insect farming. It enables remote monitoring, automation, and predictive health checks, turning a complex natural system into a stable, manageable process. This isn’t just hardware; it’s a whole Farming-as-a-Service model. We supply the BSF seedlings and data-driven protocols, and we guarantee buyback of the outputs. For our partners, their waste liability becomes a reliable new revenue stream.
TOWARDS A CIRCULAR FEED ECONOMY
The feed industry doesn’t just need more raw materials; it needs smarter ones, ingredients with both sustainability and performance. With the Smart Insect Farm, agrifood waste is no longer a burden but the foundational building block for a new generation of nutrition.
Across Southeast Asia, this new paradigm is already unlocking value from agricultural byproducts, with palm oil standing out as the most scalable example. Palm oil is often framed as an environmental challenge, yet some of its side-streams are abundant and nutritionally suitable for BSF. We are already embedding these solutions into the mainstream. In collaboration with forward-looking industry partners, we have developed a steadily growing presence in commercial animal and aquafeed, bringing the value of insect ingredients in their regular production.
About Salamahafifi Yusnaieny
As a Director at Protenga (Malaysia), Salamahafifi Yusnaieny leads business development and drives new market opportunities. Her work focuses on opening pathways to deliver insect-based products and the Smart Insect Farm across the region to the wider feed and agriculture industry. She has been active in the sector since 2018 and served as Vice-President of the Asian Food and Feed Insect Association (AFFIA) from 2022 to 2023.
