In Asia, they find it very normal: eating insects. Here in the West, we are not so familiar with it yet. Yet according to ABN AMRO and BOM, insect farming is a market with many opportunities, including for the manufacturing industry.
The growth of the world population (it is expected that in 2050 we will have to feed 2 billion more mouths than today) and the increase in prosperity urgently require new sources of protein. One of the solutions to this is all around us in many forms and variations: insects. Insects are cold-blooded and therefore able to effectively produce high-quality nutrients - including proteins - from plant by-products of agriculture and food processing industries. These nutrients are in turn at the beginning of the food chain of humans and animals. And so insects actually complete the circle.
Besides, we can eat between 80-100% of insect species, while we eat only 40-60% of cows and other livestock. Insects have a high conversion ratio in food production; for example, a cricket needs six times less food than cattle, four times less than sheep and twice less than pigs and chickens to produce the same amount of protein.
Animal feed
As mentioned, the market for human food is still small, but there are many opportunities for application in animal feed. For instance, it is a good and healthy alternative to fishmeal and soy protein extract that is now widely used for animal feed. Insect growers (there are now about 25 in the Netherlands) who want to take advantage of these market opportunities need to grow their production volume. BOM and ABN AMRO believe that opportunities lie mainly in developing appealing concepts for consumers and showing that insects can add value to the quality and health of fish, chicken or pork. Calculation examples show that, for example, the potential demand of insect protein is 800 tonnes per year if one per cent of the total volume in high-quality Dutch suckling pig feed is replaced by insect protein.
Yet the agricultural sector and the manufacturing industry are not yet eager to do anything with insect farming. One of the reasons is the cost. As with many start-up sectors, the cost price of the product, in this case insects and insect protein, is high compared to traditional products. And in the agricultural sector, every penny counts. According to ABM AMRO/BOM, this is precisely why it is necessary for the sector to mature so that efficiency gains can be made. "By working on scaling up, mechanisation and automation, companies can bring down the cost price. This can be done in various ways, for example by investing in the expansion of existing insect farms, new construction of insect farms (nursery and rearing) with processing facilities and separate rearing plants."
Better taste
The crazy thing is that the Netherlands does have a lot of scientific knowledge about insects. Among others, Wageningen University specialises in it and a successful Insect Lab has been set up at HAS Hogeschool in Den Bosch.
Dutch companies active in the insect sector produce 500 tonnes together. Three of them take a really professional approach and account for half of the production. Examples are Proti-farm and Protix. At the latter, insects are grown on, among other things, GFT waste and food from the supermarket with expired expiry dates. "Insects have the ability to convert waste into animal proteins. By using these proteins in animal feed, less fish need to be caught. The quality of feed also goes up. Research shows that chickens fed feed enriched with insect proteins are healthier, lay more eggs and taste better."
According to BOM and ABN AMRO, the time has come to set up a closed production and sales chain in the field of insects so that a growing niche market can emerge. A niche market from which the manufacturing industry can certainly benefit.
By: Kelly Bakker
