Baltic Muppets – Baltic Mussel Products for Pet-foods

Project description:

Baltic Muppets is dedicated to develop a refined value chain for small mussels in the Baltic Sea region, focussing on innovative techniques for their cultivation, harvesting and processing. Our aim is to utilize mussels that are too small for human consumption in high-quality animal feed products and thus strengthen the blue bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea region.

Despite their small size (smaller than 4.5 cm), the nutritional richness of the mussels positions them as suitable components for pet nutrition. By carefully investing in sustainable mussel farming and processing, we aim to meet the requirements of the pet food industry and minimize its environmental impact.

Modern monitoring and modelling techniques are used to ensure efficient use of space for mussel farming and to balance production yields with environmental resilience. In addition to the economic benefits, mussel farming provides essential ecosystem services and helps to eliminate excess nutrients in the Baltic Sea, improve water quality and promote biodiversity.

Further information can be found here: https://balticmuppets.eu/

Our task:

• Market analysis for small mussels and mussel powders for feed and pet food
• Development of business cases for industrial mussel production and processing
• Assessment of regulatory matters
• Assessing the sustainability and value of ecosystem services from mussel farming

Funded by: Co-funded by the European Union (ERDF Interregional Innovation Investments Instrument)

Period: December 2022 – December 2025

Project partners: 13 partners from 5 countries, see full list here: https://balticmuppets.eu/partners/