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Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

The role of black soldier fly larval protein and fat in companion-animal nutrition: challenges and opportunities from an industry perspective

Anna Sutton https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9290-299X A * and Nick D. Costa https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4745-1347 B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Sustainable Pet Food Ingredients, Geelong, Vic. 3228, Australia.

B School of Agricultural Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

* Correspondence to: anna.sutton@spfi.com.au

Handling Editor: David Masters

Animal Production Science 63(18) 1949-1957 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN23080
Submitted: 6 March 2023  Accepted: 4 June 2023  Published: 30 June 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

The pet-food industry is a significant and rapidly growing market, with global sales estimated at over US$100 billion in 2020. The market size for pet food was estimated at 22.9 million tonnes in 2020. The number of cats and dogs being fed commercial pet food is also on the rise, with an estimated 62% of cats and 68% of dogs being fed commercial pet food in the United States alone with an estimated value of A$2.3 billion in 2020. This represents a growth of 3.3% from the previous year, and the market is expected to continue growing with a forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% from 2021 to 2025. The demand for high-quality, specialised pet-food products has led to consistent year-on-year growth in the industry. With this, the increasing demand for commercial pet food on a global scale comes with growing sustainability challenges that must be addressed. In this paper, we will examine some of the opportunities for the use of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) meal and oil in pet-food formulations to reduce the environmental impact of pet food and pet ownership and deliver nutritional and functional benefits to our pets.

Keywords: amino acids, antimicrobial, black soldier fly, cat, dog, environment, meal, minerals, oil, protein.

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