Ittinsect co-founders Alessandro Romano and Andrea D’Addazio
Ittinsect uses microalgae, insects and agricultural by-products to create powerful aquafeeds
“It all started with my passion for the sea. I have been sailing all my life and after completing my Masters in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Southampton I worked as a shipbroker in Switzerland until I realized that these large ships are having a negative impact on the marine environment.” explains Alessandro Romano, co-founder and CEO of Ittinsect.
“I quit my job and embarked on a 40-day, 1,000-mile journey around the Mediterranean, eating only fish I could catch. I realized how empty our oceans are today, and I found that 20 percent of all the fish we catch – that’s 20 million tons of fish a year – ends up in animal feed, including for aquaculture,” he adds.
“I spoke to fish farmers and asked why they didn’t replace fishmeal. They replied that there are currently no sufficiently nutritious alternatives at a competitive price. I asked them if I make something to replace fishmeal that is also ocean friendly – would they start using it? Many said yes, and that was my aha moment. Aquaculture produces the least polluting animal protein to date, as it causes fewer emissions than pig and poultry farming. Fish farmers are making progress towards sustainability, but they need support from feed manufacturers. That’s why I decided to hire a marine biologist, a biotechnologist and an operations expert to build a team with a shared vision,” reflects Romano.
Ittinsect is developing Enriched Insect Meal (EIM) to replace marine ingredients
The startup uses black soldier fly larvae and mealworms in its formulations © Ittinsect
In 2020, Ittinsect was born and began developing Enriched Insect Meal (EIM).
“We use all sorts of agricultural by-products in our feed formulations. We use insects from Europe that are certified as feed and fed only with by-products,” notes Romano.
“Our R&D team is constantly evaluating new insect species. But for the moment we use the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) thanks to its already established mass production and the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor). We trust in the development of large-scale production of insects. We’ve seen a €250 million investment in France’s Innovafeed, and some other insect farms are expanding. Thus, insect availability is easier and more affordable, and insect genetics are improving. Therefore, we get higher quality feed and lower prices. However, insects still contain some anti-nutritional factors that need to be removed and treated,” explains Romano.
The sustainability aspect is at the heart of Ittinsect’s identity and production system.
“Our main goal is to replace fishmeal and fish oil as they severely affect the marine environment and threaten biodiversity worldwide due to severely stressed fish stocks in the ocean. Insects produce very few emissions and use very little water. From a nutritional and environmental point of view, insects are an excellent alternative to fishmeal,” notes Romano.
On the one hand we help the fish farmer to make his product more profitable and on the other hand a feed that has less impact from the point of view of sustainability.
Alessandro Romano, co-founder and CEO of Ittinsect
“The aquafeed market is our main focus. When evaluating product prices, it is worth discussing how much fish grows per kg of feed consumed. For example, a fish farmer does not buy a kilo of feed. A fish farmer buys a kilo of fish weight gain. Our products are equal to, if not superior to, standard fish feeds. In simpler terms, Ittinsect Aquafeed is more expensive per unit, but it performs better,” he adds.
The company seeks partnerships with current feed manufacturers to help ensure high quality and highly digestible formulations and can supply large quantities of ingredients.
“We don’t want to export feed, but develop new feed ingredients that are suitable for animal nutrition in aquaculture,” explains Romano.
“On the one hand we help the fish farmer to make their product more profitable and on the other hand a feed that is less harmful from a sustainability point of view. We want to enable insect producers to make insects more attractive to the aquaculture industry. In our opinion, the connection between insect and fish breeders has been missing so far. Other feed manufacturers include insects in their formulations, but we modify insect ingredients for use in high percentages in feeds,” he explains.
The company has two ongoing research partnerships, one on biotechnological research with the University of Bari Aldo Moro in southern Italy and the other with CREA, the Italian national body for aquaculture research, which focuses on all testing and certifying the validity of processes and results.
Ittinsect has secured an investment from Katapult Ocean
New investments will allow the company to manufacture feed for salmon and increase their production
Ittinsect has received investments from CDP Venture Capital SGR Fondo Nazionale Innovazione Italian National Innovation Investment and some private investors from Italy and Norway. Now they want to collect more donations.
The company recently received an investment from Katapult Ocean, which will enable the production of feed for salmon and the expansion of fish feed production in southern Europe.
“So far we have produced a few dozen tons of feed, but we are increasing production month by month. By 2023 we want to produce 1,500 tons of feed per year. In our quest to expand internationally, we will produce over 12,000 tonnes of feed ingredients annually for inclusion in our partners’ feeds. So far we only produce feeds for trout and sturgeon, but new feeds for sea bass and sea bream are planned,” says Romano.
“We have built a strong network with fish farmers in Europe, mainly in Italy, and our network is growing. We rely on feedback from fish farmers – they are the future of feed. We supply feeds that are high in insects to farmers and they get proof that insects can work as feeds. Although it can be more expensive, the feed’s higher performance makes up for it,” adds Romano.
Romano also argues that farmers receive a premium for selling sustainably-fed fish.
Our goal is to further improve and support sustainable aquaculture development. In every decision we make, we put our mission first.
Alessandro Romano, co-founder and CEO of Ittinsect
“It is very important to emphasize that there are two incentives for fish farmers to buy feed – on the one hand, because the performance is higher, and on the other hand, because the supermarket and its customers will buy their fish at a higher price. We have entered into partnerships and open dialogues with supermarket chains because they present products to customers. It’s up to us to choose a fish that has less impact on the sea and the planet. But it’s up to the supermarket chain restaurants and every other company that sells fish to the end consumer to get that message across,” he points out.
“Our goal is to further improve and support the sustainable development of aquaculture. In every decision we make, we put our mission first. We are making decisions to reduce the impact of the aquaculture industry on the marine environment as we have seen how fruitful we can be as feed producers for the Italian market and in the rest of Europe to support companies to develop sustainable alternatives to aquatic feed”, concludes Romano.
Specialist in fish welfare
Laïla Akhtar has an MSc in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter and works as a freelance writer specializing in aquaculture and fish welfare. She has a background in guppies fish behavior from Trinidad and hopes to make aquaculture a more responsible and sustainable industry. She has a keen interest in sustainable food systems.
