Our company was created by one man’s passion for the oceans. Ben, our founder, was once a marine biologist. He’s been worried about the decline of life in the sea since he first studied it 25 years ago.
You might ask what making protein and fertiliser from waste has to do with that. The reason is simple. There’s a lot of fish taken from the ocean and used to feed animals.
In 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that out of the total world fisheries catch of 97 million tonnes, 22 million tonnes were allocated for non-food purposes, primarily for the production of fishmeal and fish oil. This is clearly a bad idea, and yet it goes on.
So part of the reason we created this company is to try and tackle that problem. If we can provide animal feed from waste that is usually burned, we think we can make a difference for the seas, and the important creatures who live in them.
I was working on insect protein a few years ago when Ben and I started discussing the need for a company like ours. Through my other company, Innovation Forum, I was chairing conversations with large companies, insect producers, retailers, and others, on the potential to develop the market for alternative proteins.
Ben and I worked together more than 20 years ago, setting up and building an automotive technology start up that was eventually sold for $20m USD.
We’ve been friends for even longer. I realised through the work we were doing in 2021, that he had come up with an idea that just had to be done: to create IBG.
Ben had been researching the area for ten years and had been waiting for the right time to start a company making insect protein.
The first thing we did was call up Ignacio, now our CEO. He and I have worked together extensively for 15 years across his various roles and mine, particularly at Innovation Forum, and he and Ben are good friends too.
Ignacio’s work has always been about sustainable supply chains, like mine. He quickly saw the opportunity and joined our start up team, as excited as we were, about the prospects of using waste to create value, and displace unsustainable inputs for feed and fertiliser.
Two key things happened next. The first was that Ben took a trip to Andalusia, Spain, and drove around the olive growing landscape for days.
He rang Ignacio and I, and told us he had found exactly where we were going to research our products and operate our plans: In olive country, in the heart of Spain.
The second thing we did, once we started modelling our numbers and raising capital for our business plan, was get our CFO, Phil on board. That may be one of the best decisions we ever made.
We needed a specialist we trusted and who was keen to join us, and Ben and Phil had worked together on previous ventures successfully.
So that’s how we got started. For more on our progress now, take a look at our most recent blog posts.