Singapore animal feed maker Entobel to beef up Vietnam operations

Singapore-based animal feed maker Entobel and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have formed a partnership to scale up the former’s operations in Vietnam as part of a long-term cooperation agreement, Entobel announced on Thursday.

Entobel’s main business is producing insect ingredients from the black soldier fly and make them into high-quality aquafeed and pet food. According to the company, insect meal is a sustainable alternative to fish meal in the aquaculture industry, helping alleviate over-fishing.

Entobel is currently building Asia’s largest insect plant in Vietnam’s southern coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The second plant aims to provide 10,000 tons of insect meal annually for aquafeed and petfood producers. Its construction started in 2022 and is set for completion in 2023, while the first commercial sales are planned for later this year.

Entobel’s first Vietnam factory in the southern province of Dong Nai went into operation in 2019. The 1,000-ton plant also serves as Entobel’s dedicated research & development (R&D) center.

Last year, the agtech company raised $30 million in funding from Mekong Capital’s Mekong Enterprise Fund IV and Dragon Capital to serve its expansion of insect protein technology.

“Reaching scalable levels of production will help protect marine ecosystems and reduce the depletion of ocean resources,” said Thomas Jacobs, IFC country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Vietnam spent $5.6 billion on importing 10.32 million tons of animal feed and animal feed ingredients in 2022, up 13.6% year-on-year in value but down 1.1% in volume, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry anticipated the figures to reach 10.5 million tons worth $5.55 billion this year.

The imported products included 787,000 tons of animal protein, 129,700 tons of fish meal, 238,300 tons of poultry meal, and 1.4 million tons of synthesized protein, among others.