After three years of intensive work, Nordicflexhouse is ready to present the first fully integrated BioPod containers, developed in collaboration with OxyGuard, Bugging Denmark, and Restaurant Alchemist. This is a cohesive ecosystem where fish, vegetables, and insects are cultivated side by side, utilizing each other’s resources in a closed-loop system.
“Our vision has been to prove that high gastronomic quality and circular production can go hand in hand. The container solution creates new opportunities to transform kitchen waste into new ingredients – right where they are needed,” says Anders Thomsen, CEO of Nordicflexhouse ApS and project manager for the initiative.
Three Containers – One Circular System
The three-year development project, supported by GUDP, explored how vegetables, insects, and fish can be cultivated in an integrated container system located on Refshaleøen, just steps from Alchemist’s kitchen.
The cycle begins with the restaurant’s own food waste – such as citrus peels – being converted into insect feed in a repurposed container, which Bugging Denmark has transformed into a fully automated insect farm. The facility can produce more than one ton of mealworms annually, which are used both as food and as sustainable feed for the fish.
“When we replace industrial fish feed with our own mealworms, we significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint and keep production local,” says Jakob Rukov from Bugging Denmark.
The mealworms are then transferred directly to the neighboring container, where OxyGuard has installed a compact recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in a 40-foot container. During the project period, over 1,000 African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) have been raised with minimal water usage.
“The fish container produces both a liquid and a solid fraction of nutrient-rich sludge – the liquid part is sent directly to the vegetable container, while the solid can be used as fertilizer in open fields,” says Lasse Polke-Pedersen from OxyGuard.
In the third container – the BioPod vegetable container from Nordicflexhouse – more than 40 types of herbs, microgreens, and edible flowers are grown year-round under LED lights, nourished by the recirculated fish water. The harvest is used in the restaurant – and in this way, the entire cycle is connected, enabling a complete circular food factory to operate on just 72 square meters.
Concrete Climate Results
The BioPod containers are highly climate-friendly. A BioPod vegetable container removes about 0.20 kg of CO₂ from the atmosphere per kg of vegetables produced annually. In contrast, traditional vegetable farming emits 3.58 kg of CO₂ per kg of vegetables produced annually. The climate impact of insect production is only 1.22 kg CO₂ per kg of mealworms or crickets – significantly lower than traditional protein sources (for comparison, beef emits around 60 kg CO₂ per kg).
An independent fish container emits 2.85 kg CO₂ per kg of catfish produced annually. Traditional catfish farming emits 5 kg CO₂ per kg annually.
From Waste to Gourmet
Michelin-starred restaurant Alchemist’s role in the project has been to test the BioPod containers in operation, which has led to tangible results on the restaurant’s menu.
“It’s been an exciting journey to be part of. The idea of a circular system where we can use our food waste to create new food aligns with our philosophy. During the project, we’ve harvested over 40 different types of herbs, microgreens, and insects from the BioPod containers, and our test kitchen has experimented with more than 100 preparation methods for the African catfish,” says Rasmus Munk, head chef and co-owner of Alchemist.
Market-Ready Solution
The BioPod containers are CE-marked, fully automated, and come with digital monitoring platforms and manuals, allowing operation in about 8 hours per week. The solution is now ready for the Danish and international markets – with the ambition to see biocircular containers pop up on rooftops and vacant urban spaces around the world.
Read more about the BioPod solution here:
https://www.biopodcontainer.dk/
Press Contact
Nordicflexhouse:
Anders Thomsen +45 52 25 04 93
ant@nordicflexhouse.dk
