Who we are

Emerging as an industry leader, ProtiCycle uses a modular approach that can upcycle up to 20 tons of waste per day into usable protein, fat and organic fertiliser.
Our founders have longstanding mining and farming backgrounds that give us the industry edge in finding practical solutions and process designs for rearing the black soldier fly.
Through many trials testing many waste resources, ranging from manure to fruit pulp, our factory team have honed their expertise in finding sustainable waste feed resources for our larvae.
There are many competitors in this exciting market, but few, if any can compete with us when it comes to cost of production.

Management

Our History

2016 The beginning

2015 - January 2016

In 2015, after reading about Black Soldier Flies on a plane, CEO, Ivan Mare began his research on the BSF for its potential to clean up the environment. Coming from the mining industry, he was especially interested in the role these flies could play in reducing toxic waste and rehabilitating decommissioned mines.
Leon Louw, current Research Director, started research into the commercial viability of black soldier fly at about the same time.
The first project started with a small wooden box in Ivan's back garden in Hermanus to see if he could get the larvae to become flies and if they would breed. The experiment yielded very successful results and in January of 2016, a company was born.

Taking action

March 2016

In March 2016 Ivan asked his friend and current company lawyer Gideon Du Plessis to join the company and the business was registered as ProtiCycle (Pty) Ltd. About the same time Martin Karberg, a businessman and engineer joined the company and a bonafide pilot plant was constructed near Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa in a town called Fochville. The pilot plant was used to test various substrates and agricultural by-products as a feed source for the black soldier fly larvae. The original idea was to use pig and chicken manure as a feed source for the larvae. The test was successful, and the company decided to focus on more natural agricultural by-products like fruit juice pulp. (picture: our first pilot plant and Leon's son playing in the foreground)

Teething

2017

In 2017 a subsequent pilot plant was constructed in Kathu, a small town in Northern Cape of South Africa. The pilot plant was used to study the effects on a greater variety of foodstuffs. Here, the team learnt many lessons ranging from facility design, feed composition/consistency and breeding cycles. The insights gained there, are used in our production planning and farming principles to this day.

Taking the leap

2018

The first commercial facility was constructed in Worcester, Western Cape in 2018. The Western Cape is one of the biggest fruit producing area's in South Africa and has good infrastructure and a world-class port. Pieter van Greunen, an engineer with years of top management experience for a large global company, also joined ProtiCycle that year.

Growing our business

2018-present

Since 2018, our company has grown from just 2 ice-cream tubs of BSF larvae to a facility that handles up to 4 tons of waste each day. Under the capable and leadership of our plant manager Charles Swanepoel, our factory team has grown accordingly from 2-13 skilled members.