While insect ag facilities are typically vertically integrated, Agroloop’s new BSFL facility near Budapest does not include a breeding unit, an operation it has entirely outsourced to FreezeM.
Insect waste (frass)—which contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—boosts soil health and provides a more balanced, slow-release nutrient profile than synthetic fertilizer, claims Innovafeed.
The tiny larvae are put in a state of suspended animation for up to 10 days without refrigeration, enabling insect protein producers to focus on rearing and processing.
Producing high-value proteins from genetically engineered black soldier flies is cheaper and more scalable than expressing them in engineered microbes via precision fermentation, claims Chilean startup ByBug.
Hungary- and London-based Scoutlabs is betting on a direct-to-grower distribution model for its digital trap management system.
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
“In the first six years, we had more failures than successes,” says insect ag pioneer Kees Aarts.
Insect breeding and rearing/processing require very different skillsets, claims FreezeM, which supplies insect farmers with neonates in a state of ‘suspended animation.’
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
Technology that eliminates the earthy color, flavor and aroma of crickets could unlock new opportunities in human food markets, claims US-based startup Hoppy Planet Foods.
Entobel says it will demonstrate that “it’s possible to produce industrial volumes of insect protein at a competitive cost… and we expect this factory will be profitable early next year.”
Instead of using black soldier flies for feed and fertilizer, Singapore-based Insectta hopes to expand their applications to everything from personal wellness and pharmaceuticals to organic electronics.
We all hope that big agrifood cos will meet their regenerative ag and C02 reduction goals by 2030. But ‘hope is not a strategy,’ says Chonex.
If you’re farming edible insects for protein, scale is the name of the game, says Singapore-based startup Insectta. But if you’re mining bugs for higher-value functional ingredients, even a tiny startup can potentially compete on the global stage with the right technology.
If crickets—which pack an attractive nutritional punch with a low environmental impact—are going to gain traction in the alternative protein market, two things must happen, says Aspire Food Group. Costs must come down and supplies of consistent, high-quality raw material must go up.
Armed with cash from a Kickstarter campaign and a fervent belief that edible insects were the next big thing for human and planetary health, Pat Crowley introduced many Americans to the concept of eating bugs back in 2012 via Chapul cricket bars.
Future Fields has raised US $11.2 million to scale up fruit flies as production vehicles for high value ingredients including growth factors for cultivated meat production and human recombinant proteins for medical research and biopharmaceuticals.
The FlyFeed founder describes his journey from working at SaaS startups to building his own insect protein company to combat global hunger.
It’s raising the insects on organic byproducts such as food waste, before converting them into proteins and oils for use in animal feed.
The Cambridge, UK-based company aims to recreate ‘upcycling’ in nature by feeding our food waste to fly larvae – which are then fed to livestock.
