Summary

• The 10,000-square-metre Volare 01 factory was completed within its €15 million construction budget.
• The plant is designed to produce up to 5,000 tonnes of insect protein and 2,000 tonnes of oil annually, using food industry byproducts.
• A €7.1 million funding round will support production ramp-up and preparations for a second factory; the first site's full commercial performance remains unproven.

Finnish food technology company Volare has completed its first industrial-scale insect protein factory in Pori, combining automated production with €7.1 million in additional investment as it prepares to increase output for animal feed and other industrial customers.

The 10,000-square-metre facility, known as Volare 01, is designed to manufacture up to 5,000 tonnes of insect protein and 2,000 tonnes of insect oil annually from byproducts generated by food manufacturers.

Volare confirmed on 26 October that the project had been completed on schedule and within its €15 million capital expenditure budget. The company raised the latest funding through Springvest, with participation from new and existing investors including Maki.vc.

Construction completion does not mean the factory has reached its full planned output. Volare is moving into commissioning and production ramp-up, during which its systems must demonstrate that they can operate reliably at industrial volumes.

The facility represents a substantial increase in capacity from the company’s demonstration operation, where its underlying technology has been developed over several years.

Automation shapes the production process

Volare uses black soldier fly larvae to convert selected food industry side streams into protein, oil and other materials suitable for commercial applications.

The larvae grow using organic inputs that might otherwise have limited value within conventional food manufacturing. They are subsequently processed into ingredients that can be incorporated into products such as aquaculture feed and pet food.

The basic biological process is established, but turning it into competitive industrial manufacturing requires control over feeding, environmental conditions, growth cycles, harvesting and downstream processing.

Unlike conventional production lines that primarily handle predictable manufactured components, insect farming involves living organisms whose behaviour and growth can respond to changes in input materials and operating conditions.

Consistent output therefore depends on both biological management and industrial engineering. A variation in feedstock or production conditions can affect the quantity or characteristics of the resulting ingredients.

Volare has developed equipment and processes intended to make those activities more repeatable, using automation to reduce manual handling and coordinate production across the factory.

The company says Volare 01 has been designed to operate with four employees per shift. That staffing model could influence production costs, although the statement does not establish the total workforce required for maintenance, logistics, engineering or management.

The number of employees directly operating a production line is only one component of manufacturing expenditure. Equipment servicing, electricity, feedstock preparation, quality control and customer delivery also affect the economics of the facility.

An existing building reduces construction work

Volare developed the factory within a former newspaper printing plant, adapting existing industrial property rather than constructing a new building from the ground up.

The conversion took approximately nine months, according to current reporting, and helped the company deliver the facility within its stated capital budget.

Reusing industrial premises can reduce the time and expenditure required for building works where an existing site already has suitable access, utilities and structural characteristics.

However, the approach is not automatically transferable to every location. Production equipment must fit the available space, while ventilation, electrical systems and the handling of biological material may require substantial alterations.

Volare describes its process as electrically powered and designed to limit energy-intensive treatment of the finished ingredients.

Those design choices could affect operating costs, but the company has not published a comprehensive independent assessment demonstrating the environmental performance of the completed factory under sustained operation.

Comparisons between protein ingredients require consideration of the full production process, including how inputs are sourced, transported and processed.

The environmental benefit also depends on the conventional materials being displaced and whether the side streams used as insect feed already have alternative commercial applications.

A production process using food manufacturing residues may recover useful nutrients, although that characteristic alone does not establish the resulting product’s cost or environmental advantage over established feed ingredients.

Customer agreements support the ramp-up

Volare has been supplying products commercially since 2022, including ingredients used in pet food and feed applications. Its earlier demonstration operation provided a route to developing customer relationships before the company committed to a larger factory.

The new plant has offtake arrangements covering a significant share of intended production, including an agreement with aquafeed manufacturer Skretting and another with an unnamed international chemical company.

Such agreements offer evidence of customer interest and may improve demand visibility during commissioning, but their value depends on delivery schedules, product specifications, prices and the volume customers ultimately purchase.

Volare has not disclosed the full commercial terms of the arrangements or the revenue expected from Volare 01 at its planned capacity.

Feed manufacturers evaluate ingredients according to nutritional performance, consistency, availability and price. Alternative proteins must therefore demonstrate practical suitability within existing formulations, not simply provide an interesting substitute for conventional materials.

For aquaculture businesses, ingredient quality can influence fish growth and feed performance, while pet food manufacturers must also consider product acceptance and regulatory requirements.

Production reliability becomes particularly important when customers use an ingredient in established manufacturing operations. Inconsistent supply can require reformulation or the use of alternative inputs, creating costs beyond the original ingredient price.

Volare’s earlier commercial relationships may assist that transition, although a demonstration plant’s delivery record cannot establish how a much larger facility will behave at full operating capacity.

Expansion plans depend on the first site

The latest €7.1 million funding round is intended to support production ramp-up and preparations for additional facilities.

Volare has indicated that its proposed second factory could have approximately five times the protein production capacity of Volare 01.

Replicating an established plant design could reduce some engineering uncertainty, particularly where the company can reuse equipment specifications, operating procedures and knowledge gained during commissioning.

Nevertheless, a substantially larger operation would require reliable access to suitable feedstock, additional equipment, more extensive logistics and sufficient customer demand to justify the investment.

Insect protein companies have faced considerable financial difficulties when attempting to scale, with several European operators encountering problems despite attracting significant funding.

Industrial production can expose costs that are difficult to estimate from smaller facilities, including the effects of downtime, maintenance, financing and the management of biological processes at higher volumes.

Volare’s management argues that its comparatively contained construction budget, use of an existing industrial building and automated operations provide a more disciplined route to expansion.

Completion within budget supports that account of its construction programme, but a factory’s commercial performance depends on what happens after the equipment is installed.

The new facility must demonstrate sustained production, consistent ingredient quality and operating expenditure compatible with the prices customers are prepared to pay.

Volare is now concentrating on commissioning the Pori operation while preparing its next investment decisions. Its production output, customer deliveries and operating costs will provide the evidence needed to assess whether the model can be repeated at larger scale.