Be part of the exclusive AquacultureUK 2020 Insect Pavilion
We are finally able to announce the details of the options for exhibiting or sponsoring our presence at AquacultureUK 2020.
Places on the Insect Pavilion are very limited so do get in touch ASAP as they will be filled on a first-to-commit- firmly first-served basis.
We hope to demonstrate the strength of the emerging insect feed sector. Whether or not you need to add to your order books, your support will help our collective cause.
We have offered a range of options for participation. Further details on the Woven Network website blog pages. We look forward to hearing from you.
Aquaculture 2020
The Scottish aquaculture sector is third largest in the world - contributing £2bn Gross Value Added to the UK economy and projected to double this by 2030.
Access to sources of suitable, sustainable feed is a key limiter to this growth.
Insect-based protein as a feed component in aquaculture has great potential due to their high energy and protein content and the possibility of customising their fatty acid profile to meet the needs of different types of fish.
There is a growing global insect farming community focused on supplying the livestock feed sector with over 40 companies and many of these having secured substantial investment.
The Woven Network has created a focus for engagement with UK Government, agencies and think tanks.
We are bringing companies together at the AquacultureUK event in May 2020. This will achieve a number of aims:
- Insect farming businesses will showcase to the Aquaculture community
- Provide a platform for open innovation calls and research stimulation
- Support networking and collaboration across the value chain
As well as a Woven exhibitors pavilion, we will hold fringe events – technologists and researchers to pitch to farming companies and SMEs to pitch to investors. Sponsoring one of these will enable you to influence their focus and shape and to learn about the latest developments in the sector.
Our event will provide an excellent opportunity to engage with this community, as an investor, partner, technology provider or customer.
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IPIFF publish labelling guidance
The International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed have published a 44-page guidance how to label food containing insect material within the 2011 European Union regulation 1169/2011 for providing food information to consumers.
The food labelling requirements are presented in the context of fair information practices, mandatory particulars, required lists, and quantities of ingredients. Different regulations are given for pre-packed and unpacked food, site of origin, and when food is sold some distance from where it is prepared. How health and nutrition claims may be made, what allergy information is necessary, and how producers must inform purchasers who wish to incorporate insect ingredients in their products are advised.
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Ruspolia differens – katydid or bush cricket
Has anyone experience of breeding Ruspolia differens? This is a non-native species to the UK, but there are pockets of these insects that exist in the wild in the UK. They are a food source in East Africa, where they are called Nsenene in Uganda. They would need to be bred and raised in a protected environment in the UK. A Woven Network has contacted us and asks readers to contact news@woven-network.co.uk to exchange experience.
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Protix opens new plant in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands
King Willem-Alexander opened the 14,000 square metre plant that will allow Protix to increase their feed production ten fold. Clean food waste is fed to black soldier fly for conversion to fish feed. The breeding and production processes are much automated. Founded in 2009, Protix has added mealworm, cricket and locust ingredients through acquisition and expansion of production.
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Insects at the beginning and end of almond production
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California produces 80% of the world’s almonds. Almond growers pay for bees to be trucked in their billions to pollinate the crop. The fruit of the almond tree, Prunus dulcis, is a drupe not a nut.
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There is an outer fleshy hull derived from the exocarp present in green almonds, and an inner shell derived from the endocarp around the kernel. Blanched almonds have the seed coat removed from the embryo.
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California almond production generates 1.4 million tonnes of almond hulls, and 0.6 million tonnes of almond shells. Dried and ground these make suitable feed for cattle, poultry, and insects.
Insecticide residues can be found within the hull and shell, but HermetiaPro incorporate these substrates to feed black soldier fly larvae to produce products from eggs, larvae, and frass.
California law, effective 1 Jan 20 will prohibit pre-consumer organic wastes from entering the landfills. This is a timely repurposing of the almond production organic waste to generate insects, animal feed, and organic fertiliser.
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Packaging for insect products
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Isaac Stevens has designed packaging for edible insect products. These are designed to market edible insects to western consumers.
The pasta brand, ‘Pod’, short for arthropod, incorporates insects as cricket flour within the more familiar pasta product. Edible insects can have qualities familiar to seafoods such as prawns, which are also arthropods. The arthropod concept forms a connection between the familiar and culturally acceptable consumption of prawns, and the novel and more challenging idea of eating insects, making entomorphagy more palatable. Visually the 'Pod' brand was inspired by cultures where insect consumption is common, with the bright bold colours of South America and the geometric patterns of West Africa.
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Instagram: @istevens.design
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Yumpa bars are under new ownership and have reformulated their products. There are chocolate, peanut, and Thai flavoured bars comprised of fruit, nuts, and 5-6% cricket powder. Bars are wrapped in a compostable packaging that earned Yumpa the Best Sustainable Packaging Award in the World Food Innovation Awards 2017.
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“Aquaculture UK is the most important aquaculture exhibition and conference held in the British Isles. The show has a tremendous following and with continued investment it promises to reach even further across the broader aquaculture market, both in the UK and into Europe. Firmly establishing it as an important and truly international trade venue for the aquaculture industry.
Over three days Aquaculture UK offers a valuable opportunity to network, discover new products and meet decision makers. No other UK event provides aquaculture professionals with such direct access to suppliers from all over the globe representing all aspects of the aquaculture industry.
With representatives from all the major aquaculture countries in attendance the atmosphere is dynamic and exciting with open and friendly interaction between exhibitors and visitors.”
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Publications
1. Collins CM, Vaskou P, Kountouris Y. Insect Food Products in the Western World: Assessing the Potential of a New 'Green' Market. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 2019 preprint DOI: 10.1093/aesa/saz015
Although two billion people already eat insects in the world and the benefits of edible insects are well known, these ‘green’ sources of protein are neither treated as conventional food products nor widely incorporated into Western diets. Using a school-based investigation surveying 161 children, aged 6–15, and 114 of their parents in London, and an online consumer survey with mainly British and French consumers (N = 1,020), this research provides insights into the potential of the insect market in the West. This work supports the idea that incorporating insect food into our diets makes not only environmental but also business sense.
A non-negligible segment of the population surveyed is willing to pay for mealworm minced meat and young children and pre-teens could represent a substantial market segment, as yet unexplored. This analysis points to multiple marketing strategies, such as early exposure, education, reducing the visibility of insect parts, celebrity endorsement, or peer-to-peer marketing, all of which could facilitate the adoption of insect food in the ‘mainstream’ arena, according to the consumer segment being targeted.
Generalisations from these results are restricted to an educated and youthful subset of the potential consumer pool and further work remains to understand the patterns of Western consumer acceptance for the range of insect foods.
BBC newsbeat: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48259397
2. Di Mattia C, Battista N, Sacchetti G, Serafini M. Antioxidant activities in vitro of water and liposoluble extracts obtained by different species of edible insects and invertebrates. Front Nutr 2019 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2019.00106
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00106/full
The composite nutritional content, direct consequences of a plant-based feeding, associated with the undoubtedly ecological properties, suggest for insects a role as sustainable and functional foods. We investigated the ability of water and liposoluble extracts, obtained by 12 commercially available edible insects and two invertebrates, to display an antioxidant effect in vitro. Results show that water-soluble extracts of grasshoppers, silkworm, and crickets display the highest values of antioxidant capacity (TEAC), 5-fold higher than fresh orange juice, while evening cicada, giant water bugs, Thai zebra tarantula, and black scorpions have negligible values. Grasshoppers, African caterpillars, and crickets have the highest levels of reducing power (FRAP), double than fresh orange juice. Grasshoppers, black ants, and mealworms contain the highest levels of total polyphenols, while Thai zebra tarantula, black scorpions, and giant water bugs are at the bottom of the ranking. The liposoluble fraction of silkworm, evening cicada, and African caterpillars shows highest level of TEAC, twice than olive oil, while Thai zebra tarantula, palm worm, and black ants are placed at the bottom of the ranking. Edible insects and invertebrates represent a potential source of antioxidant ingredients with an efficiency related to their taxonomy and eating habits. More evidences are needed to understand if the practice of eating insects and invertebrates might contribute to modulate oxidative stress in humans.
3. Rubio NR, Fish KD, Trimmer BA, Kapln DL. Possibilities for engineered insect tissue as a food source. Front Sustain Food Syst 2019
https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00024 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00024/full
Due to significant environmental concerns associated with industrial livestock farming, it is vital to accelerate the development of sustainable food production methods. Cellular agriculture may offer a more efficient production paradigm by using cell culture, as opposed to whole animals, to generate foods like meats, eggs, and dairy products. However, the cost-effective scale-up of cellular agriculture systems requires addressing key constraints in core research areas: (1) cell sources, (2) growth media, (3) scaffolding biomaterials, and (4) bioreactor design. Here we summarize work in the area of insect cell cultures as a promising avenue to address some of these needs. We also review current applications of insect cell culture and tissue engineering, provide an overview of insect myogenesis and discuss various properties of insect cells that indicate suitability for use in food production systems. Compared to mammalian or avian cultures, invertebrate cell cultures require fewer resources and are more resilient to changes in environmental conditions, as they can thrive in a wide range of temperature, pH and osmolarity conditions. Alterations necessary for large-scale production are relatively simple to achieve with insect cells, including immortalization, serum-free media adaptation and suspension culture. Additional benefits include ease of transfection, nutrient density, and relevance to seafood organisms. To advance insect-based tissue engineering for food purposes, it is necessary to develop methods to regulate the differentiation of insect cells into relevant cell types, characterize cell interactions with biomaterials with an eye toward 3D culture, design supportive bioreactor systems and quantify nutritional profiles of cultured biomass.
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