PALAS DE REI, SPAIN — Bioflytech has started production of flour and fats from dried larvae of black soldier flies at a new facility in Palas de Rei, Spain.

It is one of the first Spanish companies to obtain authorization to produce, transform and market this type of product.

The flour can be used as a raw material for the production of pet food and in aquaculture. The fat can be used for pig feed and in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, for the production if soaps and moisturizers.

Bioflytech designed a second rendering machine, which has been commissioned at the facility, to manufacture tailor-made flours with specific percentages of proteins and fats, depending on the customer’s needs. A third rendering machine is being assembled and will join the others in the coming weeks, the company said.

Work continues on eight warehouses in the complex, which include a production facility, six larval fattening warehouses and a compost warehouse.

The dried black soldier fly larvae comes from the company’s other facility in Fuente Alamo de Murcia, Spain. It currently produces 4,000 tonnes of fresh larvae per year.

Once authorization is obtained, the company will begin fattening fresh larvae in Palas de Rei, which will allow a total of 12,000 tonnes to be produced per year. An additional expansion will eventually allow for the production of 100,000 tonnes of fresh larvae per year.

Biotechfly is investing €2.8 million ($3 million) in the second half of the year to increase production capacity of the hatchery facility that supplies larval eggs to the Palas de Rei facility. It hopes to expand production from 180 kilograms of eggs per month to 350 kilograms per month.