Insect Protein Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Source (Ants, Black Soldier Flies, Crickets, Grasshoppers, Mealworms, Others (Beetles, Buffalo Worms, Silkworms)), By Application (Animal Feed, Food And Beverages, Personal Care), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2022 To 2027

The insect protein market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.51% to reach US$1,398.333 million by 2027 from US$318.867 million in 2020.

It may be noted that entomophagy has been practiced for thousands of years by humans. With the growing population of the world, it is estimated that conventional agricultural and livestock farming will be rendered incapable of providing the required amount of food that is supposed to meet the dietary requirements.

This factor has further gained currency due to the growing global population that is estimated to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100 from 7.7 billion in 2019, according to World Population Prospects (WPP), by the United Nations. Additionally, it may be noted that the environment is under a lot of stress from activities pertaining to agriculture and livestock, and sustaining the projected number of people further will translate into an unprecedented negative interaction with the environment. The global livestock sector is known to contribute significantly to anthropogenic GHG emissions, to the tune of 7.1 gigatons CO2 -eq per annum, accounting for 14.5 % of the GHG emissions that are human-induced. Further, beef and cattle milk production account for most of the emissions contributing 41% and 20% respectively. On the other hand, pig meat and egg production account for 9% and 8%, respectively [Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)].

Thus, considering the plethora of factors that influence the choice of consumers, concerns about corporate and environmental sustainability have gained a lot of currency around the world, factors like fresh, natural, and/or organic ingredients, and environmentally friendly operations are turning the tide in favor of the insect protein market. Coupled with the growing cognizance of the negative externalities that are caused by animal husbandry activities as elucidated above, further provides an incentive for market players to invest in insect protein geared toward human consumption.  Additionally, the health and wellness aspirations of consumers have remained a constant determinant influencing human consumption habits. To this end, generation Z is the key demographics that is expected to drive the market for insect protein during the forecast period. The manifestation of the aforesaid trajectory towards insect protein has been exemplified by the fact that chicken from birds fed on diets that include insect oil in lieu of vegetable oil was reported to be included among the poultry offerings of a French supermarket chain as of June 2020. InnovaFeed, a French insect protein company, had supplied insect oil, aiding the feed formulator, Nealia, to develop poultry rations recipes replacing soybean oil.

Animal Feed Applications provide good growth opportunities for the players.

This opportunity is brought into effect by quite a few factors. The foremost factor that is important to consider is the weaning of the dependence of livestock farming away from antibiotics and endeavoring to sustain them through the means of increased organic intervention to be employed in animal feed. Also, two other sources of emissions are livestock feed production and processing as well as enteric fermentation from ruminants which account for 45% and 39% of the emission in this sector, respectively. Followed by 10% contributed by manure storage and processing [Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)]. Therefore, both from the perspective of reducing plausible biomagnification and reducing environmental stress, proteins derived from insects are being increasingly considered as the next frontier of animal feed ingredients.

Six species of insects have been authorized as animal feed by the EU.

Capitalizing on this development, FarmInsect, which is a Bavarian AgriTech startup that aims to revolutionize agriculture with insects by assisting farmers to produce their protein feed from regional residues with the help of insects, has reportedly secured a mid-six-figure seed financing round as of June 2020. FarmInsect uses Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia Illucens) larva for the sustainable utilization of regional residues thereby making the farmers independent of global supply fluctuations. Moreover, along the same lines, as of May 2020, Beta Hatch, a start-up that aims at revolutionizing the animal feed business through science and technology, has reportedly raised US $3 million as part of a new funding round.

The Seattle-based company, which was founded in 2015, has thus far raised $5 million in total equity.  Earlier in June 2019, it was announced that ŸNSECT, which is a French company that leads the global field in farming insects and converting them into premium ingredients aimed at the feed production for pets, and fish, among others, as epitomized by ŸnMeal, officially launched the first fully automated industrial facility to produce premium insect protein, under the aegis of #FARMŸNG, which is a project-based out of the city of Amiens, in northern France. With an investment of €20m euros, this project has been co-funded by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) and the European Commission.

The other factor that is expected to enable the pet-food segment to hold a significant market share is that animal pallets are not so diverse as ours, and thus being repelled by the very concept of insect protein consumption, which to a certain extent is a deterrent in the human food segment, leaves ample room for opportunities for pet-food segments, enabling pet food market players to focus on [the health credentials. For instance, in January 2019, Yora, a UK-based startup, launched the first dog food comprising 26.2% insect meal, among others.

Key Developments

• May 2020: Beta Hatch, a U.S.-based insect-rearing technology company, has received $3 million from Cavallo Ventures, Wilbur-Ellis' venture capital arm, and Innova Memphis. A number of other investors participated in the round, including Klein Private Equity Investments and Brighton Jones Investment Partners. Beta Hatch is expected to open its North American facility to produce mealworms for animal feed soon as per the press release in May 2020 by Wilbur-Ellis.
• May 2020: The ValuSect consortium, which stands for Valuable Insects, is coordinated by Thomas More University, and supported by an Interreg North-West Europe grant of €2,08 million. Improving insect production is the main goal of the project, followed by consumer attitudes as per the press release by Interreg in May 2020 in Brussels. There are members from 7 different countries in the project consisting of 9 full members.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Insect Protein Market

The impact of COVID-19 has affected most manufacturers in the world. Lockdowns, owing to COVID-19 adversely affected the global insect protein market growth. The pandemic led to several challenges for the food sector; the meat market was poorly hit globally. Insect feed market participants have been concerned about continuous production, supply, distribution, a lack of workforce, and insufficient development activities. Consumers may shift their food choices in the future, particularly when it comes to food derived from animals. Due to this, unusual foods derived from animals, such as insects, are expected to get rejected at a much higher rate. There are also concerns about the transmission of zoonotic infections to humans when insects are used for food and feed. Viruses are known to be carried by insects and transmitted to humans through direct blood injection; however, it has not been reported that these viruses can be transmitted through ingestion. Various companies are investing a lot of money to improve the innovation of plant protein extraction systems. A Thai group invested about US$ 30 million towards the growth of the plant protein market as per the 17 October 2019 article by the Thai Union. 

Insect Protein Market Scope:

Segmentation                                                                                     

• By Source
  • Ants
  • Black soldier flies
  • Crickets
  • Grasshoppers
  • Mealworms
  • Others (beetles, buffalo worms, silkworms)
• By Application
  • Animal Feed
  • Food and Beverage
  • Personal Care
• By Geography
  • North America
    • USA
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Others
  • Europe
    • The Netherlands
    • France
    • The United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • Others
  • The Middle East and Africa
    • UAE
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Israel
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • India
    • China
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Indonesia
    • Others