Arbiom, an agricultural biotechnology company developing solutions to convert wood into protein for feed and food applications, announced the conclusion of the SYLFEED Project, following a final webinar in a series of events marking the end of the project. The webinar was focused on the environmental performance of SylPro®, a protein-rich ingredient, which has been at the center of the SYLFEED mission and activities.   

SYLFEED was founded to help develop a solution to the challenge of sourcing, producing and securing high-quality, sustainable protein sources due to the growing demands of aquaculture and animal feed producers in Europe and globally. The SYLFEED partners’ activities have focused on commercializing a first-of-a-kind bioprocessing technology, to upcycle abundant, available and underutilized bio-based feedstocks, such as wood wastes and residues, into higher-value biobased applications, notably, a protein-rich ingredient for use in aqua and animal feed, SylPro®.  

The SYLFEED Project was a partnership of ten organizations founded in 2017, with the support from the European Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the Horizon 2020 Program, and led by Arbiom over the past four years. The SYLFEED Project convened leading organizations from each step in the value chain, from the biomass sourcing (Norske Skog, Golbey) to the biomass fractionation and conversion into SylPro (Prayon, Rise Processum, Bioprocess Pilot Facility, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant and Arbiom), to the fish feed formulation and manufacturing (Laxá, Matís and Skretting).   

Project achievements

The project successfully tested the alternative protein ingredient SylPro® for use in rainbow trout, Nile tilapia and Atlantic salmon feeds. The project also performed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study and when compared to other protein sources, such as fishmeal and soy protein concentrate, SylPro shows the lowest impact on climate change, supporting its viability as a sustainable solution to the looming global protein gap.

“The project success is a testament to the collaboration and diverse expertise contributed from our partners in the SYLFEED project. Leaders representing all parts of the ‘Wood to Food’ value chain came together with a common vision and commitment to success,” said Marc Chevrel, Arbiom CEO.  

“We believe the Wood to Food technology platform represents a game-changing solution to expand food production potential without harming ecosystems or consuming more limited resources, by bringing wood and other undervalued biomass into the food chain. The SYLFEED Project achievements are a valuable contribution to advance biobased solutions to nutrition and sustainability challenges in Europe,” said Birgir Örn Smárason, project manager, for MATIS.