TALLINN, ESTONIA – FlyFeed, an insect breeding startup, recently announced that Ahmed Hassan has joined the company’s Advisory Board. Hassan will be responsible for product development, customer relations and growth strategies.
Hassan has more than 30 years of experience in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector. Before joining FlyFeed, he was general manager for many of Colgate-Palmolive’s subsidiaries and led Hill’s Pet Nutrition business for six years. Hassan has also held advisory and board roles, supporting start-ups and established companies on strategy, brand positioning, marketing, supply chain and expansion.
“I believe in the importance of innovation, sustainability and quality nutrition for the well-being of pets,” said Hassan. “FlyFeed scores extremely well on these factors, which makes it exciting to work with a company whose vision and values align with my own. The $115 billion pet food market offers tremendous potential for insect breeding companies. With a targeted approach, I believe FlyFeed has all the makings to become a market leader within a few years.”
At FlyFeed, Hassan will oversee product development, manage customer relationships with pet food processors and advise the company on growth strategies, hiring and scaling.
“One of FlyFeed’s main priorities is to be close to our customers, to learn together with them and to understand their real needs perfectly,” said Arseniy Olkhovskiy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FlyFeed. “As the leader of a large pet food company, Ahmed has unmatched market knowledge and insight into our customers’ businesses. Together we will take FlyFeed’s relationships with the pet food industry to a new level and unlock the potential of insect products for the benefit of pet health.”
Photo courtesy of FlyFeed
Launched in November 2021, FlyFeed specializes in black soldier fly farming, producing insect-based proteins, fats and fertilizers for use in animal feed and pet food. The company is expanding its pet food capabilities and plans to offer its products to pet food processors by 2023. It also hopes to expand its capabilities to human food in the future.
According to the company, the global pet food industry is expected to grow from $115 billion in 2022 to $163.70 billion in 2029, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.11%.
FlyFeed hopes to support this expansion while ensuring sustainability. The company will set up a farm in Vietnam and expects to have more than 10 farms supplying pet food companies across Vietnam, India and Africa by 2026. One of the farms will process 40,000 metric tons (44,092 metric tons) of organic waste to produce 17,500 metric tons (19,290 metric tons) of insect-based ingredients.
Read more about personnel changes across the industry.
