© Prin Pattawaro
Teun Veldkamp, coordinator of the SUSINCHAIN (Sustainable Insect Chain) project, shows how it will enable the production and consumption of insects on a large scale in Europe
Teun Veldkamp, coordinator of the SUSINCHAIN (Sustainable Insect Chain) project, highlights in this article the main objectives of the project and the activities of the 35 participants (18 industrial and 17 academic partners) of the multidisciplinary consortium.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that in order to feed a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050, total food production would have to increase by 60% between 2005/2007 and 2050. In order to effectively achieve such fundamental changes, an economy based on the principle of circularity and circularity that takes into account resource constraints is required.
To help European businesses and consumers make the transition to a stronger and more circular economy, the European Commission (EC) adopted an ambitious new circular economy package in 2017 calling for loops in the product life cycle to be closed. The package also includes an action plan to support the circular economy at every step of the value chain.
Insects are one of the most promising alternative sources of protein in Europe to enter the feed and food market. Insects have great potential for efficiently upgrading the side streams of food production and contain high quality protein and essential nutrients. In order to contribute to the circular economy envisaged by the EC, this potential urgently needs to be strengthened and expanded in order to guarantee more sustainable, resilient supply chains with high consumer acceptance and attractive market opportunities.
The feed and food insect sector is relatively new in Europe and is dominated by SMEs facing many hurdles and challenges in scaling up. There are a few large rearing companies, mainly in Western European countries and often with outside investments. As a result, there is currently a mismatch (or gap) between the demand for the quantity and quality of insect products and the supply offered by actors in the insect chain.
Currently, the cost price for insect products (protein products) is not competitive with z. B. Soybean meal (animal feed) and minced meat (food). However, among the alternative proteins, insects are becoming increasingly cheaper as they are only a few steps away from widespread use in the feed and food markets in Europe. SUSINCHAIN helps to eliminate the imbalance between supply and demand and to lower the cost price for insect products by exchanging knowledge and collecting data as well as testing, piloting and demonstrating newly developed innovations in the insect chain and increasing social engagement.
Project focus
SUSINCHAIN focuses on the most promising insect species for feed and food production in Europe (black soldier fly, housefly, mealworm and house cricket), taking into account production, processing and use as feed and food. SUSINCHAIN overcomes the following hurdles for upscaling (Image 1):
- Insect Products Markets: SUSINCHAIN analyzes strategies to overcome identified supply-side and demand-side barriers to the large-scale commercialization of high quality insect proteins. The practical experience of the partners and stakeholders in the consortium industry in removing supply-side barriers and the associated risk management strategies will be assessed and best practices developed on this basis. Insect farmer best practices are identified and shared in two living laboratories. Successful strategies for gaining trust and consumer acceptance of food and feed made from insect proteins are a basic requirement for large-scale marketing of insect-based food.
- Insect rearing: For ecological and economic reasons, SUSINCHAIN focuses on the conversion of inferior residues or organic by-streams that cannot be fed directly to animals into high-quality insect proteins and their (direct) use as human food or (indirectly)) in animal feed will close the loop in the circular economy and increase the sustainability of the food chain. To improve profitability, options for marketing rearing by-products and for the prevention of insect diseases are being tested.
- Processing of insects: SUSINCHAIN optimizes and demonstrates the large-scale implementation of promising transport, storage and processing technologies for insects. Microwave and high frequency drying, high humidity extrusion and protein recovery from fresh larvae by enzymatic pretreatment in combination with continuous tricanter centrifugation are validated and demonstrated in the insect value chain. Storage and transportation methods are also tested while maintaining their quality in large quantities. For maximum recovery and viability, controlled atmosphere packaging and cold atmosphere preservation for the storage and transportation of live insects are evaluated.
- Use of insects in feed: SUSINCHAIN rates the digestibility of insect protein meals made using various processing methods. In addition, the project is conducting large-scale experiments in which animals are fed commercial diets containing varying amounts of insect meal. The optimal inclusion levels of insect protein are determined compared to a diet with conventional protein sources in order to maintain or improve the performance and health of rainbow trout, sea bass, salmon, broilers, laying hens and piglets.
- Use of insects in food: SUSINCHAIN designed and developed insect-based food products (mealworm and house cricket) that are suitable for home preparation of regular dinners in European households. The products are sensory and evaluated in consumer studies aimed at a 20% replacement of protein from meat in weekly menus.
- Insect production safety: SUSINCHAIN ensures the safety of insects and their derivatives along the entire chain. The microbiological, chemical and allergenic safety of insects raised on a variety of unconventional plant-based substrates is tested. In addition, all optimal transport and processing techniques are monitored for microbiological safety and allergenicity of the insect products.
- Sustainability of insect chains: SUSINCHAIN is developing a decision support system to ensure that the growth of the insect value chain in Europe is sustainable. To this end, requirements are identified to achieve positive environmental impacts without reducing the potential for economic profitability in the use of insects as feed and food.
SUSINCHAIN website and stakeholder platform
Further information on the project can be found on the website https://susinchain.eu/.
You are also invited to join the stakeholder platform. Members can join available groups, post information, and start conversations with one another. The stakeholder platform is limited to invitation only. Please contact us if you want to join the platform.
Knowledge
This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 861976.
This document reflects the views of the author only and the Commission is not responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Please note: this is a commercial profile
© 2019. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.
