Portugese companies EntoGreen and petMaxi have teamed up to launch the innovative petfood, happyOne Premium Insect Protein, that contains 25% insect protein.
The official launch of the new adult dog food product, happyOne Premium Insect Protein, developed in collaboration with pet food manufacturer petMaxi and the insect producer EntoGreen, was held at an event in Lisbon.
EntoGreen’s Founder and CEO, Daniel Murta, opened the session reflecting on the importance of developing innovative products for the national and international markets and announcing the characteristics of insect proteins that make it a unique and high-quality product to include in petfood.
Dr Rui Fortunato, petMaxi’s Technical Director, presented the advantages of this new petfood, namely the fact that it is hypoallergenic, with a single protein source, insects, being a high-quality product that is part of petMaxi’s Premium range. The companies emphasizes that this product incorporates 25% insect protein and is characterised by being suitable for animals with sensitivities (itching, hair loss, among others) and allergic symptoms.
This launch session was also special as it presents one of the first products resulting from the work carried out by the InsectERA Mobilising Agenda, funded under the Portuguese Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), a project that is expected to launch more than 100 new products, processes, and services by 2026. Although having a launch session in May, this product reached the Portuguese market in February, and can currently be found in more than 50 physical and online points of sale, including veterinary clinics and pet shops.
According to the companies, happyOne Premium Insect Protein is an innovative hypoallergenic product, not only because it incorporates 100% Portuguese insect protein, the first petfood of its kind in Portugal, but also because it shares a vision focused on animal welfare and health and, essentially, because it makes a clear contribution to environmental sustainability, with a strategy that goes from using insects, produced with the use of vegetable by-products, to obtaining all raw-material locally, reducing the value-chain. Thus, this Portuguese petfood is made with ingredients exclusively obtained in Portugal, and in some cases in the same region, such as EntoGreen’s Insect Protein, obtained less than 100km away.
