IN Brief:
- HenArt has commercially launched LEVENDO, a gently baked dog food containing Enifer's PEKILO mycoprotein.
- Established European manufacturing partners produce the finished product; their identities and contracted volumes have not been disclosed.
- Enifer's Kantvik facility is commissioning, with full-scale production targeted for 2027 and annual design capacity of 3,000 tonnes.
Finnish fermentation company Enifer has secured a European consumer application for its PEKILO mycoprotein through LEVENDO, a dog food range launched by Dutch pet nutrition developer HenArt on 21 October 2026. The product incorporates fermentation-derived protein in a gently baked formulation, while Enifer continues commissioning its first large-scale production facility at Kantvik in Finland.
HenArt describes LEVENDO as a complete food for adult and senior dogs, developed around its own blend of fermented proteins. PEKILO is a principal component, although the partners have not published its percentage inclusion rate or a full manufacturing specification. HenArt developed the recipes, product concepts and processing requirements internally and uses established European partners to manufacture the finished products.
The arrangement separates the supply of a protein ingredient from the manufacture of a packaged diet. Enifer produces fungal biomass for use as a component in food formulations, whereas HenArt’s contracted producers combine ingredients and manufacture the finished product. The companies have not named those contractors, disclosed their production locations or announced the volume of LEVENDO ordered for distribution.
The range is being offered through HenArt’s online store and specialist distribution partners in Europe and the UK. Wider access through national pet retail chains, online retailers and supermarkets is being pursued rather than presented as completed distribution. HenArt has also identified wet food development using its TenderCraft technology, but these further products have not been commercially launched under the announcement.
LEVENDO is baked rather than extruded. Baking and extrusion apply different combinations of temperature, mechanical energy and moisture to a mixture, and the choice influences ingredient handling and the characteristics of the finished product. The release does not identify oven conditions, mixing parameters or the composition of the proprietary fermentation blend, so the precise production process cannot be reconstructed from its description.
PEKILO itself is produced through a separate industrial process. Enifer cultivates filamentous fungi in vessels supplied with liquid nutrients, including suitable side streams from food, agriculture and forest industries. The fungus grows into a protein-containing biomass, which is recovered from the process liquid before drying. The company describes the resulting ingredient as a shelf-stable powder suitable for further formulation.
Unlike a finished pet food recipe, production of a consistent fungal ingredient depends on controlling fermentation conditions and downstream recovery. Changes in nutrient composition or the culture’s operating environment can affect biomass formation. Separation and drying then have to produce material within the specifications needed by the customer. Enifer has not published LEVENDO-specific batch data or comparative processing yields.
The ingredient contains protein with essential amino acids, alongside fibre and naturally occurring compounds including beta-glucans. The manufacturer also identifies B vitamins and spermidine. Those components describe the ingredient’s composition; they do not establish that every finished product containing it provides a particular physiological benefit or that PEKILO alone supplies all the nutrients required by a complete diet.
Enifer cites a 60-day canine feeding study that examined digestibility, palatability and stool quality. It reports high protein digestibility, good acceptance and no adverse stool quality effect, alongside preliminary observations that the company considers relevant to immune function. The study findings are not evidence that LEVENDO has been shown to prevent disease or deliver a verified clinical benefit.
HenArt says the recipe has been formulated to the nutritional guidelines of the European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF. Such formulation targets concern the finished diet and its suitability for its intended life stage. They are different from testing a single ingredient for digestibility or evaluating whether a protein can withstand the conditions used by a manufacturing partner.
The launch follows earlier Enifer collaborations in pet nutrition, including development work with Prima Pet and Rovio Pet Foods during 2026. The distinction in October is the introduction of a finished product available to consumers, not the first time the PEKILO ingredient has been tested in pet food. The latest announcement does not provide a contracted annual offtake volume.
Enifer’s Kantvik facility is also advancing, but remains in commissioning. Equipment testing began in September at the site, which has been developed within an existing industrial building with access to steam, electricity, process water, cooling water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. The company has stated that the plant is designed for 3,000 tonnes of dry PEKILO annually when fully operational.
The stated hourly output at full capacity is 500 kilograms. That is a design figure, not a current production measurement. Enifer expects full-scale production in 2027 and has not confirmed that the facility is already running at its nominal rate or that HenArt’s current product is supplied entirely from this factory.
The pet food introduction should also be distinguished from authorisation for human food. Enifer has pursued novel food approval in Europe and a separate regulatory pathway in the United States. A product being marketed as dog food does not establish permission to sell the same ingredient in human food in every jurisdiction, and the October release makes no such claim.
HenArt’s launch gives Enifer a commercially available consumer application while its industrial facility moves towards full operation. The next manufacturing evidence will concern reliable production and ingredient specifications from Kantvik, together with sustained demand from customers using PEKILO in finished formulations. Neither full factory capacity nor additional LEVENDO distribution contracts has yet been demonstrated in the company’s published account.
