Skretting Vietnam and Entobel have partnered to jointly introduce insect protein meal (H-Meal) into Skretting’s commercial shrimp feed production. The partnership’s dual objectives are to increase feed formulation flexibility — reducing reliance on marine ingredients — while also providing shrimp farmers in Vietnam and other markets with a low carbon footprint and responsibly produced product line.
This is one of the first large-scale models of applying insect meal to shrimp feed in Asia and is also the first commercial shrimp feed containing insect meal in Vietnam, demonstrating the two companies’ shared vision of promoting sustainability and a circular economy for the aquaculture industry.
“Integrating insect meal into shrimp feed is an important step in the journey to build a more sustainable seafood value chain,” said Duco Onnes, general director of Nutreco Vietnam.
Insect ingredients offer proven sustainability benefits for the aquaculture industry. Based on a life cycle analysis (LCA), insect meal has a low carbon profile — just over 1 kg CO₂/kg and moving toward the <1 kg target — which is fully aligned with the WWF Basket Blueprint. By transforming food byproducts into a high-value nutritional source, this ingredient helps reduce waste and dependence on marine ingredients.
Through integration into commercial products, Skretting and Entobel deliver real-world impact: reducing FFDR, maintaining good growth when used in balanced diets, and increasing supply chain sustainability for farmers and global markets.
“We are proud to partner with Skretting to demonstrate that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand,” said Alexandre de Caters, co-founder of Entobel. “This collaboration shows how circular innovation can reduce pressure on the oceans and strengthen the food value chain.”
Skretting’s trials confirmed that insect meal provides consistent growth rates, feed conversion efficiency and nutritional value comparable to traditional marine ingredients. In addition, internal research has shown that the source can provide some functional benefits due to natural components such as chitin and lauric acid — which play an important role in aquaculture nutrition.
Commercial production of shrimp feed containing H-Meal began in November, with plans to expand to other farmed species and markets in the near future.
This partnership demonstrates Skretting’s global commitment to innovation and sustainability — turning scientific advances into real, measurable impacts across the seafood value chain.
