Grubbly Farms is raising black soldier flies as a substitute for wild-caught fish in food for livestock and farmed seafood

A 5500 sq ft facility just outside of Atlanta.

By feeding pre-consumer food waste to insects we can decrease the amount of volume required by landfills as well as reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

By Alison Moodie
The Guardian
Aug 6, 2016

Excerpt:

Warner and Pittaluga are running their business out of a warehouse in Doraville, Georgia, and they plan to hire their first full-time employee this month. Their initial business involves drying larvae and selling them whole as chicken treats. The farm hopes to generate enough revenue and raise more money to buy equipment for making fish meal, a process that involves extracting oil from dehydrated larvae and then grounding the larvae into a protein powder.

The cousins are targeting the chicken market initially because there is a strong demand for high quality feed. Chickens commonly eat dried mealworms, which come from a type of beetle that tends to be imported from China, where quality standards are uneven, Warner said. These worms also have less calcium and lysine, an amino acid, than the larvae of black soldier flies, he added.

Read the complete article here.

See Grubby Farms.

Global Edible Insects Market Value to Reach US$ 722.9 Mn in Revenues by 2024 End

Rising Awareness about Insect Proteins Will Continue to Drive Market

By Shreyas N. Deshmukh | Sr. SEO
Persistence Market Research

The global market for edible insects is expected to register healthy growth over the forecast period, 2016-2024. In terms of value, market will escalate to US$ 722.9 Mn by 2024 end, up from US$ 423.8 Mn in 2016. The expected CAGR for market expansion is around 6.1%. Lower production costs of insect-based products compared to chicken, beef, and pork will remain a key driver pushing the market growth.

Apart from low capital investment in production of insect products, growing popularity of the palatability of edible insect-based products as a substitute for egg and dairy proteins also plays a key role in fuelling the demand for edible insects globally. In addition, increasing awareness about ecological appeal of edible insects plays a crucial role in their popularization. Moreover, assured food safety and negligible risk of acquiring diseases are also the key factors influencing the growth of edible insects market.
Insufficient networking and distribution channels will however pose a challenge to the market growth. Negative perception about insect consumption in several regions of the world is also a key restraint to a widespread demand for edible insects. Lack of legal framework governing insect consumption globally, is expected to lay another growth barrier for market.

Based on product type, product as a whole and product as an ingredient account for major revenues. Product as a whole gains demand from various segments, including steam or fried, raw, and BBQ. Product as an ingredient will continue to attract revenues through drinks, insect confectionery, snacks, baked products, and others.
On the basis of insect type, orthopetarns and tree bugs are anticipated to contribute major revenues to market, compared to beetles, caterpillars, hymenopterans, and others. Orthoptera and tree bugs segments will witness relatively higher CAGRs during the forecast period, 8.1% and 7.3% respectively.

Based on region, Europe and North America are estimated to be key markets for edible insects, recording CAGRs of 7.3% and 6.9% respectively, over the forecast period 2016-2024. Asia Pacific accounted for the highest revenues in 2015. Owing to rising consumer awareness about benefits of consuming edible insects, MEA also represented a significant market in 2015, contributing over 28% of revenues to the global market. Markets in APAC and MEA will continue to witness steady growth by 2024 end. China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh are projected to dominate APAC market, whereas Africa will continue dominating MEA in consumption of edible insects.
Key players identified in the global edible insects market include Thailand Unique, Kreca, Nordic Insect Economy Ltd., Entomo Farms (Formerly Next Millennium Farms), Enviro Flight, LLC, Proti-Farm, Exo Inc., Entotech, Deli Bugs Ltd., and Eat Grub Ltd.

Long-term Outlook: Global edible insects market is expected to witness moderate growth during the forecast period, 2016-2024. The market will reach a value of US$ 722.9 Mn through to 2024, registering a CAGR of 6.1%.