Proteine Resources launches VELI at Interzoo, a wet pet food built around a dual-action gut-health formula

Digestive disorders account for 20–30% of companion-animal veterinary visits, and digestive-sensitivity formulas are the leading therapeutic category in the European pet diet market. The functional wet-food category aimed at those conditions has a new entrant. Proteine Resources, a Polish biotech, launched VELI at Interzoo 2026 in Nuremberg, a wet pet food line built around a dual-action gut-health system: prebiotic fiber from insect-derived chitin paired with postbiotics formulated to survive the heat sterilization that destroys most live probiotics in wet food.

VELI debuted May 12–15 at Interzoo's International Startup Zone (Hall 3, stand 3-531e). The line is built on EntoPro™, a hybrid ingredient combining buffalo-mealworm-derived protein with bioactive compounds extracted from mushroom cultivation by-products, the product of eight years and roughly €11.8M of R&D.

VELI's dual-action gut-health mechanism

The first mechanism in VELI is prebiotic. Chitin-derived fiber naturally present in EntoPro™ feeds beneficial gut microbiota. Research published in PeerJ found that insect-based diets in dogs maintain microbiome diversity and increase abundance of beneficial bacteria including Bifidobacterium.

The second is postbiotic. VELI's recipes add postbiotics (defined by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics as preparations of inanimate microorganisms or their components that confer a health benefit) to support gut-barrier integrity by promoting tight-junction proteins between epithelial cells. Critically for wet food applications, postbiotics are thermostable: unlike live probiotics, they retain functional activity through the retort sterilization process standard in commercial wet pet food production.

Internal field tests place VELI's palatability in the same performance tier as premium fresh-cooked pet foods, per the company's submission. That claim has not been independently verified. Large-scale in vitro studies on EntoPro™ have been completed with the University of Agriculture in Krakow (URK). In vivo holistic testing is launching now and will be the more meaningful validation data point than the show launch itself.

Where VELI sits in the functional wet-food category

The market case for functional gut-health wet food is well documented. Mordor Intelligence puts digestive sensitivity at 18.5% of the EU pet diet market, the leading therapeutic category by revenue across a population of 299 million companion animals per FEDIAF. In the U.S., Veterinary Practice News reported in 2023 that digestive and skin conditions account for over half of all annual veterinary visits, affecting more than 60 million cats and dogs. In Canada, Nationwide's 2024 claims data placed intestinal upset as the most frequent insurance claim category for cats.

What separates VELI from the broader functional pet food pack is the dual-action ingredient design at the formulation level rather than as a probiotic add-on. Most functional wet foods on retail shelves rely on live probiotics that are degraded by retort sterilization, or add prebiotics without paired postbiotic support. VELI's pitch is that the prebiotic and postbiotic mechanisms are both engineered into the EntoPro™ ingredient platform from the start, designed to survive the wet-food manufacturing process intact.

The company is also offering EntoPro™ as a B2B platform to brand and private-label partners, with a documented three-month concept-to-shelf timeline and low minimum order quantities. That positions Proteine Resources alongside European ingredient-platform plays like Enifer (PEKILO mycoprotein) and against the U.S. consumer-brand-first model used by Bond Pet Foods (fermented protein) and Wild Earth (koji).

EntoPro™ regulatory certification for the U.S. and Canada is targeted for later in 2026. AAFCO ingredient definition and Canadian CFIA pathways for novel insect-mushroom hybrid proteins are not trivial, and the certification timeline shapes whether North American brand partners can commit before 2027.

What to watch as VELI moves from show launch to retail

Three signals over the next two quarters.

URK's in vivo data. Internal palatability claims need independent validation. The University of Agriculture in Krakow's in vivo holistic testing, now launching, will determine whether the dual-action gut-health pitch holds up under clinical-grade scrutiny.

A named retail or private-label customer. A disclosed European mid-market wet-food brand or retailer placing VELI or licensing EntoPro™ would convert the pitch from positioning to traction. None has been disclosed.

EntoPro™ regulatory progress in North America. A 2026 certification target leaves a narrow window. Slippage into 2027 pushes the U.S. and Canadian brand-partner pipeline back materially.

Source: Proteine Resources company-submitted announcement, May 21, 2026. Market context verified against company-cited research (Jergens & Heilmann 2022; Jarett et al. 2019; Mordor Intelligence 2024; FEDIAF 2025).

This news brief is based on a company-submitted announcement. The Underbite verifies claims where possible but cannot independently confirm all details.