The Insect Business Feeding the World without Consuming the Planet

The food industry today has two major challenges that need to be overcome. Firstly, to produce enough food to meet the world's increasing population, and secondly to ensure that the agricultural process continues to be innovative to surpass its current limits. Humanity is also facing two major challenges, climate change and biodiversity collapse, which threaten every aspect of life on Earth. Agriculture is the second contributor to climate change after energy, but overfishing, pollution and the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilisers also have extremely detrimental effects to the planet. There needs to be a change in food production and in agriculture to ensure a sustainable future for everyone.

Ÿnsect is a world-leading France-based insect farming business, transforming insects, namely mealworms, into high quality proteins for animals, plants, and humans. Ÿnsect has been a pioneer in the insect farming industry for ten years. The mealworm can use up to 99 percent less land and use 45 percent less resources to produce the same amount of food as traditional livestock. Mealworms are highly efficient insects in terms of protein production, and can also be vertically farmed. Ÿnsect is currently constructing the world’s biggest, most technological vertical farm in the world, which is carbon-negative across the entire value chain, according to Life Cycle Analyses.

Mealworms are currently being used primarily in animal food production for carnivorous animals. Mealworms go into the feed for domestic animals such as cats and dogs but are also used in animal agriculture destined for human consumption. This includes fish and crustaceans, from salmon to shrimp, and more recently, pigs and chickens. 25% of the world’s fisheries are currently used to feed aquaculture, and farm animals consume 20% of the world’s protein - in direct competition with humans. Insect ingredients therefore represent a protein alternative within these industries.

A diet which includes Ÿnsect’s ingredients has also been found to bring many health benefits. For pets, it is hypoallergenic and reduces skin diseases, while mortality in fish has been shown to decrease by 40%, and increase growth by 35%. Ÿnsect is now developing insect-based food for people, lowering cholesterol up to 60%, being rich in omega 6 fatty acids and high-quality protein, which matches the quality of protein found in cow milk.

Operating a circular economy, Ÿnsect also transforms its insects’ dejections (castings) into a natural, premium fertilizer, therefore having a positive impact at multiple stages of the agricultural process. The overuse of chemical fertilisers has well-known and well-documented damaging effects on the environment and biodiversity. Ÿnsect’s fertilizer - Ynfrass - has been shown to significantly increase biomass and yield for the crops tested compared to the use of 100% chemical fertilisers as well as increasing the biological properties of the soils. Ÿnsect is the first company in the world to have obtained marketing approval for a natural insect-based fertiliser, demonstrating that the company is a leading innovator in creating sustainable solutions. The fertiliser is then used in producing the feed needed for mealworms, which forms a circular economy and zero-waste process, providing a good environmental solution to traditional agricultural practices.

Ÿnsect is certified B Corp, which means that the company is a new kind of business that balances both purpose and profit and is legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. Ÿnsect demonstrates this by encouraging gender equality, providing leave for child care regardless of gender. The company has also raised its minimum wages by thirty-six percent to ensure that its employees are appreciated and cared for. Ÿnsect has also launched TerrHa 2040, a program in partnership with PUR Projet, a business helping companies and communities preserve and regenerate the ecosystem. TerrHa 2040 focuses on the challenges of reducing emissions of agricultural processes by replanting 1.8 million trees in northern France.

New technology and biology will be needed to ensure that the world’s food systems move towards a future that is in harmony with the environment - nourishing the world, without consuming the planet. With geographical expansions, technological advancements, and new partnerships on the horizon, Ÿnsect will only get increasingly closer in helping to achieve this planet-essential goal over the years to come.