Legendary Foods, a food technology company in Ghana that produces insect protein for human consumption, has secured an investment from Baylis, a private equity firm that focuses on African companies.
Legendary Foods Africa is known for delivering a resource-efficient and accessible form of protein palm larvae through unique sustainable farming systems.
Foods rich in protein such as beef and chicken lack shelf stability, they are also difficult and expensive to access.
The palm larvae, therefore, as it is full of protein, iron, and zinc, provides a shelf-stable alternative to many people, especially those in rural areas of West and Central Africa as it is widely consumed there.
Palm larvae farming is cost-effective in terms of supplies and labor, however, harvesting the mature end product has been found to contribute to deforestation.
Legendary Foods puts to practice vertical farming systems that avoid this as well as ensure the harvested larvae are of high quality.
Through Baylis’ investment, Legendary Foods will be able to accelerate its expansion plans such as improving its production capacity and data collection as well as extending the product line and distribution channels.
Legendary Foods is also set to benefit from Baylis’ extensive local networks in the industry through the investment, giving the company room to integrate itself into regional distribution and supply chains.
Founder and CEO of Legendary Foods, Shobhita Soor, commented, “We have built the technology to farm a novel, yet ancient livestock source that is highly scalable and delivers a densely nutritious protein source that can be adapted to a variety of products.
Our next step is to industrialize our production and processing capabilities. We are thrilled to be joined by Baylis who have extensive experience supporting the development of companies within the manufacturing and agri-processing sector in the region.”
On the other hand, the investment will enhance Baylis’ strategy to improve domestic production capacity on the continent through the support of local manufacturing and agricultural processing.
This investment is part of Baylis’ commitment to gender lens investing which aims to help close the gender gap in the industry and support women-led enterprises.
Franklin Amoo, a partner at Baylis said, “Legendary Foods has developed a farming system that delivers unrivaled impact in the region. We are extremely excited to partner with Shobhita, an exemplary woman entrepreneur and experienced manager.
We are enthused to support the team at Legendary Foods as they continue to build operational efficiencies and increase the mechanization of the process, drive down unit economics, and build up scale all while delivering immense value and impact.”
Awareness regarding the consumption of protein palm larvae is growing and it is expected to propel the demand for insect protein.
Grand View Research forecasts a CAGR of 27.4% from 2021 to 2028 for the insect protein market which had a valuation of US$ 249.9 million in 2020
