Arthro Biotech has become the only Black Soldier Fly (BSF) insect protein producer in India to receive EU TRACES certification. The certification allows the company to export high-quality insect ingredients to Europe and other international markets.
Based in Hyderabad, India, Arthro Biotech was founded by a team of professionals with over six years of experience in the insect industry, having previously developed the world’s largest BSF breeding program for waste management.
“Arthro now focuses on producing BSFL ingredients by growing them on clean, traceable plant-based raw materials from agricultural sectors such as the starch and distillery industries. Our pilot factory in Hyderabad has an annual production capacity of 500 tons and meets all regulatory requirements for export, including registration with the EU TRACES system,” Dr. Praveen K Sappa, founder & CEO of Arthro Biotech, told Aquafeed.com.
The company currently produces 500 tons of insect protein annually, with a crude protein content exceeding 55%. “As we scale up with a new 5,000-ton-per-annum (TPA) factory next year, we aim to produce insect ingredients with a crude protein content of 60%, at a sale price of USD 1,500 per ton and less,” Manikanth Injarapu, co-founder & operations lead, said.
The company is currently focusing on supplying international pet food companies through its pilot-scale production. “By September 2025, we plan to launch the new 5,000-ton factory, located close to raw material sources, to further reduce costs. This larger facility will allow us to compete with fishmeal prices and meet the growing demands of local aquafeed companies. Starting this year, we have already shipped our products to the EU and Japan,” Dr. Sappa noted.
In addition to scaling production, Arthro Biotech’s R&D division has been collaborating with major feed mills in India on shrimp feed trials in ponds in three different locations.
“We’ve also developed a biopesticide called entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), derived from BSF larvae biomass. This product, which is currently patent-pending, is undergoing field trials to validate its effectiveness against soil-borne pests. We have developed a novel method (patent pending) for large-scale intra-humoral infection of BSF larvae that boosts antimicrobial peptide production by 10 times. We are currently collaborating with multiple animal health research institutes to assess its effectiveness. We have also developed Neonate suspension technology to ship the neonates at room temperature for longer-distance shipping applications to enable the BSF industry domestically and internationally. Moreover, we are working on hydrolyzed protein as a feed ingredient and as a biostimulant for plants,” Dr. Kishore Nalam, co-founder and R&D head, explained.
“Our innovative approach is aimed at creating sustainable solutions for both the animal feed industries and agriculture, with the long-term goal of producing 100,000 tons of insect ingredients annually by 2030,” Dr. Sappa concluded.
