Q&A with producer of edible insect products

We asked Christian Bärtsch, Co-Founder of Essento, some questions about the role of edible insects in the future, to give the perspective of an entrepreneur making insect-based delicacies for new markets.

In your opinion, what role could edible insects play in future Western diets, and also worldwide diets, in terms of nutrition and how soon might this happen?

Insects do already play an important role world-wide – over two billion people consume insects on a regular basis. If we are to look at the West, I see that alternatives are coming up much quicker than in the past – given that it took Sushi 20 years to get established, I’d say that in five years, we will be at a point where insects will be a true alternative.

Insects do offer a true alternative to conventional animal proteins like milk or meat. They provide high value nutrients at a low environmental cost. Given that the population is predicted to grow further, and we need high quality nutrients, insects are a very valid source of quality proteins and fatty acids.

Need/Problem:

• We waste enormous amounts of food as feed for animals: 1kg of beef requires 10kg of plant feed + 15,000l of water.
• To nourish 10bn people by 2050 and meet their needs, we have to change the way we produce food and find alternative solutions.

Solution: Insects as food

• High nutritional values
• Resource efficient when it comes to breeding
• CO2 emissions are the lowest of all animal-derived protein production systems
• Low resource requirements, efficient feed-food conversion ratio
• Feed – can use non-edible (for humans) byproducts to produce high quality food

Regarding biodiversity, insects offer an alternative use of high-quality side streams and therefore put less pressure on the land. Also, through considering insects as food and integrating them into their diets, people become more aware of these species and their importance in the ecosystem.

We do have a long history of changing foods in our diet. Let’s take potatoes for instance – it took them a while to get established and these days they are considered a national dish in many countries.

Over the last few years we have seen a significant change in consumer attitudes and we are convinced that it will continue that way.

We see insects as a new category of food, alongside fish or poultry. They are an addition to our current diet. Given the fact that a lot of people are trying to reduce their meat intake and seeking alternatives, insect-based food comes in handy. And indeed, insects do offer comparable nutritional values with a healthier fatty acid structure.

A corner stone of the edible insect sector is that we do not want to commit the same mistakes as the past. At this point it seems very possible to breed insects at large scale without medication and hormones. We keep on putting sustainability at the core of what we do, including the insect breeding.

Prices will go down once production (breeding and food products) scales up – we have seen that in the past we were able to lower the prices quite drastically. On the other hand, prices of meat and dairy currently don’t take account of water usage or CO2-emissions. Given current climate discussions, these factors might get a price tag soon and prices of meat and dairy will increase.

Consumers take on new foods more easily when it comes in known forms like burger patties, and when insects are processed, in other words, they are ground up and are therefore not recognisably insects.

However, we do see evidence of another consumer group that likes the challenge of new textures, new flavours and is already into consuming entire insects.

There are a few established food companies making an impact in the field, such as Bühler, Protifarm and Protix. And then there are new brands, like us, that are establishing themselves and communicating directly with consumers. We also see signs that, as well as insects, algae and plant-based ingredients will gain market share.

This video from Essento, gives a flavour of the types of insect-based food they are producing.

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