Canadian Firm Turns Food Waste Into Fish Feed, Cuts Carbon

After a decade of quiet work, a Canadian company has cracked the code on turning grocery store waste into protein-rich fish feed while slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

Entosystem, based in Quebec, recently received independent verification under ISO 14064-3 for its carbon reduction achievements. The company uses black soldier fly larvae to transform thousands of tons of food waste into usable animal protein.

While other insect protein startups made big promises and struggled to deliver over the past decade, Entosystem took a different path. Co-founder Cédric Provost says his team focused entirely on perfecting the farming process before worrying about marketing or expansion.

"There were a lot of promises that were made and not met, not because people weren't good-intentioned," Provost explained at the 2026 Global Shrimp Forum. "It was just hard to build at the beginning."

The real challenge wasn't proving that fish would eat insects. Anyone who has gone fishing knows fish love flies and worms. The hurdle was creating a production system that could scale affordably while actually using waste products instead of expensive feed.

Entosystem spent years developing technology to remove contaminants from food waste, including packaging and non-food items that could kill entire batches of larvae. That breakthrough made their business model viable because paying for insect feed would have eliminated any cost advantage.

The company quietly built its reputation selling dried larvae to backyard chicken owners across the United States. That high-margin market let them grow steadily and prove their system worked before tackling bigger industries.

Why This Inspires

Now operating at full capacity with everything they produce already sold, Entosystem is ready to scale up. Their timing couldn't be better as global aquaculture faces a looming feed shortage.

The carbon credit verification adds another revenue stream while confirming what the company has been doing all along: reducing emissions by keeping food waste out of landfills and creating sustainable protein sources. Each ton of food waste they process generates carbon credits while producing feed that aquaculture desperately needs.

Provost says the economics finally make sense for aquaculture feed markets, which were less profitable just a few years ago. The company is now exploring partnerships to expand production and help fill the global feed gap.

Ten years of patient work is about to pay off for the planet and for an industry in need.