Direct Valorization of Residual Co-products From Quebec Shellfish Into High Quality Pet Food

Since 2019, Merinov has been working in collaboration with several partners to develop different ways to valorize shellfish co-products from processing plants in the sector. These plants generate several thousand tons of co-products each year that are currently composted or spread on fields. All landfilling of organic materials is prohibited in Quebec and the targeted recovery routes are in the form of high quality, high value-added ingredients and foods for human and animal consumption. Thus, the treatment of co-products from processing would allow thousands of tons of organic materials to be diverted from fields or landfill sites, and kept in the food chain. These activities would improve the competitiveness of processing plants, but also improve their environmental performance.

The food processing company KALŪ wants to diversify and improve the nutritional qualities of its various pet food formulas, in a version that would target the use of shellfish co-products from the processing of marine products. By incorporating these new raw materials into existing formulas, this would also allow the company to increase its efforts to ensure local, accessible and responsible processing by supporting regional economic development. The main co-products targeted are snow crab shells and lobster carcasses.