BC Business
Enterra has partnered with Overwaitea to help convert its waste into animal feed
Around a quarter of all food is wasted before it even gets a chance to make it into your refrigerator, says Brad Marchant, founder and CEO of Enterra Feed Corporation, whose company aims to reduce waste by converting it into animal feed, fertilizer and protein meal meal. Marchant, who has partnered with Dr. David Suzuki in his latest venture, founded and built BioteQ Environmental Technologies (TSX:BQE) which helps mining companies solve water treatment problems. Marchant met Dr. Suzuki on a rafting trip in the Yukon: “We had a conversation about how to feed fish on fish farms, without feeding them fish,” says Marchant. Suzuki, an avid fan of fly-fishing, suggested the idea of feeding insects to fish; the business potential of the idea hooked Marchant. Dr Suzuki then came on board as a scientific advisor
Enterra takes in traceable food waste – mainly fruit and vegetables that hasn’t yet reached consumers that it collects from food processors, distributors, grocery chains and even a microbrewery. “In our nursery, the Black Soldier Fly lays eggs which hatch and become small larvae. In our feeding area, we remove the packaging from the waste, grind it up and move it to a feed tray where we introduce the larvae. They feed and grow on the waste, which is refilled every few hours. After about 2 weeks, the larvae is grown and is used in various ways to make protein meal and natural oils to feed chickens, fish and make pet food,” said Marchant in an emailed statement.
Marchant expects Enterra’s future products: protein meal and natural oil which are main ingredients in fish and poultry feed, and fertilizer, which is actually just larvae fesces, to hit the market in 2014. The company is currently constructing a commercial facility in Langley that will increase their intake of food waste tenfold, from a few tons to a few hundred. Already, Enterra works with Overwaitea Food Group, Sun Processing and several local bakeries.