Insect protein has been officially included in the feed catalog, marking a turning point in the traditional animal protein market

With the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Announcement No. 1028 officially taking effect on June 11,the new version of the “Feed Ingredient Catalogue” includes black soldier fly and yellow mealworm meal, insect pulp, and insect oil in the category of compliant feed ingredients,resolving the identity issue that has plagued the industry for over a decade. From now on, large-scale farms and feed companies can legally use insect protein for formula production,officially opening up the domestic alternative protein market and creating long-term competition and reshaping of the traditional animal protein feed market,including fishmeal, meat and bone meal, and feather meal.

For a long time, fishmeal, meat and bone meal, and feather meal have been important sources of animal protein for the domestic feed industry.Fishmeal is highly dependent on fishing in overseas fishing grounds, and its price fluctuates wildly due to fishing quotas in major producing countries such as Peru,marine climate, and international logistics. Meat and bone meal are derived from livestock and poultry slaughter by-products, and their market supply is also uncertain due to processing technology,quarantine supervision, and total supply constraints. In the past, although black soldier fly and yellow mealworm proteins had outstanding nutritional value and excellent amino acid structure,they were mostly limited to small-scale experimental applications due to compliance restrictions,making it difficult to enter the mainstream formulation systems of large feed companies and thus unable to have a substantial impact on the traditional animal protein market.

With the relaxation of policies, the insect protein industry has opened up space for large-scale development.Black soldier flies and yellow mealworms can be bred in factories using organic waste such as kitchen waste and livestock manure,ensuring localized raw material sources and freedom from the constraints of distant-water fishery resources,thus possessing circular economy value. In aquaculture, specialty farming, and poultry feed formulations, insect protein can partially replace fishmeal; in some livestock and poultry formulations,it can also compete with meat and bone meal and feather meal. However,it should be objectively recognized that the overall domestic insect protein production capacity is still in the initial expansion stage and is not yet ready to fully replace traditional animal protein in the short term. It primarily serves as a supplementary supply,enriching the raw material choices for feed companies and forcing traditional animal protein products to further optimize and upgrade in terms of processing quality and cost control.

The changing market landscape also presents new challenges for the industry. On the one hand,the large-scale expansion of insect protein production requires a stable system for insect breeding,sterilization processing, and quality testing to ensure the stability of product protein indicators and microbiological safety.On the other hand, traditional animal proteins such as fishmeal, meat and bone meal, and feather meal also need continuous optimization of processing techniques,exploration of the resource value of slaughter by-products, and finding their own niche in the competition for diversified raw materials.The coexistence and complementarity of multiple protein raw materials are more conducive to reducing my country’s feed industry’s dependence on a single imported protein resource and helping to implement grain-saving initiatives in the livestock industry.

Amid the wave of diversification in protein raw materials, upstream processing equipment is a crucial foundation for industrial development.With the continued release of demand for the resource-based processing of insect protein and slaughter by-products，the demand for complete sets of sterilization, drying, and milling equipment at the processing end is constantly increasing.Equipment manufacturers such as Chengzhu are also continuously iterating on related process equipment to support the high-quality development of both new protein and traditional animal protein industries,jointly serving the raw material security of the domestic feed industry.

http://www.agri.cn/zx/hxgg/202606/t20260611_8843653.htm