Entomospeed

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The consumption of edible insects is promoted worldwide as one of the measures for guaranteeing the sustainability and security of food production. The main advantage of insects is that they can be raised very close together, they emit virtually no greenhouse gases and they have an extremely high feed conversion rate. In the Flemish-Dutch border region, insect farming is a new but promising sector and there are plenty of signs pointing towards a need for upscaling. One of those signs is that insect research has been included in the second Alternative Protein Sources Action Plan (Actieplan Alternatieve Eiwitbronnen (AAE2)) launched in 2016 by the Flemish government and the Belgian Feed Association (BEMEFA). In addition, Flanders’Food's cornet project, Entomofood, is busily engaged in product developments in this sector. Is the way now open for food companies to incorporate edible insects into foodstuffs? Entomospeed aims to answer this question by filling in the current gaps such as guidance towards a sales market and reducing manual labour with increased automation. In concrete terms, two insect laboratories are being set up, each focusing on a specific case. The HAS University of Applied Sciences (NL) is concentrating on meal worm feed tests, examining various feeds and their impact on the growth regime. The meal worm, in particular, is a promising source of protein for human consumption. The lab on the VIVES campus (Flanders) will be examining the same impact of feed tests with the black soldier fly, which is suitable for animal feed due to its appealing protein composition. For both cases, pilot installations are also being developed to provide for upscaling and automation.

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