Chicken Parts Become An Export Business In Panama Thanks To The Protein Recovery Company Redeprosa Pictured Below -

(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) Panama is exporting more than 22 containers of chicken flour and oil per month to Central America, a raw material used in the production of dog, cat, and fish food. What began in 2004 as a project to reduce the waste transported daily to the Cerro Patacón landfill is now an example of the effectiveness of the circular economy. The Protein Recovery Company (Redeprosa) processes more than 250,000 pounds of chicken viscera, feathers, and blood daily, as well as other parts that are not consumed or are in low demand, such as chicken feet. Elías Tuñón, general manager of Redeprosa, comments that the parts that are not consumed, as well as those discarded for human consumption, are processed to make chicken meal and oil, raw materials for pet food or industrial production, such as in aquaculture.

Initially, Melo invested in the plant to process the offal from its daily production of 40,000 chickens, but a year later Toledano, which also processed 40,000 chickens daily, joined the project, as it also lacked the facilities to process the parts not for human consumption. “What began as a project to address an environmental and public health problem-because it was discovered that waste pickers were salvaging chickens discarded by plants for human consumption and then selling them-is now a profitable business and one of the region's main suppliers of chicken flour and oil,” Elías said.

Currently, the vast majority of containers pictured above exported from Panama are sent to Honduras, where Cargill uses chicken meal and oil to make cat and dog food, many of which are marketed in Panama under major brands. A percentage of Panamanian production also remains in Costa Rica, where there is a high demand for pet food, especially for dogs. Tuñón points out that chicken feet that cannot be marketed are also used to make flour and oil. He explains that, with the exception of Bocas del Toro, Colón, and some areas of the province of Panama-areas where the Chinese community is present-there is a high consumption of chicken feet, while in the rest of the country, demand is low or nonexistent.

Two Production Lines

Although Redeprosa had two production lines from the beginning, only one-the one used to process viscera-has been operational since 2004. It wasn't until 2015 that the processing line for processing feathers and blood was started. In 2014, one of the leading U.S. poultry producers was unable to continue supplying chicken meal and oil to Central America. The Panamanian company replaced it, going from exporting six containers per month to 12, and now sells its entire production to the regional market. “At Redeprosa, we don't generate waste. All the materials received from our partners are used to make raw materials for animal feed,” Tuñón emphasized.

Last year, the company received the Sustainable Export Award from the Panamanian Exporters Association (APEX) for the processes it implements to reduce its environmental footprint, avoiding waste generation through its operations. Tuñón commented that, of all the products exported by Redeprosa, chicken oil is the most profitable, as it is used to coat dog and cat food. “The acidity of the oil must be carefully monitored. If it's too high, the animal may perceive the product as damaged and won't eat it. In tests conducted by manufacturers who purchase our exports, foods made using our products are always highly accepted,” commented the general manager of Redeprosa. He adds that, unlike other producers in Panama, the proximity of the processing plants to the waste disposal facilities allows for maintaining product quality and preventing spoilage.

Globally, the market for poultry rendering products-an activity carried out by Redeprosa-continues to grow. It is estimated to generate more than $7.315 billion in 2025 and could exceed $10.072 billion by 2035, driven by the growing demand for animal protein for pet food and aquaculture. Of the two production lines, the one used for processing blood and feathers still has idle capacity, unlike the one used for viscera, so the company is in the process of increasing its installed capacity. Tuñón acknowledges that, from 2004 to the present, it has been a constant learning process to find the right equipment to convert poultry waste into raw material for pet food, since the flour must contain 65% protein. He indicates that the company initially decided to give away its feather and blood meal production because it had low protein content; however, he points out that they have already sold out all of their production of both lines for the second half of 2025.

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