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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Bug Ingredient Company Insectta Nabs Funding as Investors Flock to Alternative Protein

One foodtech area that seems to be chugging along nicely, despite the pandemic? Alternative protein.

And just not plant-based protein. The Trendlines Group, an Israel-based commercialization company, announced today that it had invested an undisclosed amount in Insectta, a Singaporean startup that extracts biomaterials from insects.

When it was founded in 2017, Insectta was originally focused on cultivating insects for use in animal feeds. However, recently the company pivoted to extract an element from insects, called chitosan, for use in industries like food, packaging and pharmaceuticals. Insectta is currently developing a way to turn black soldier flies into both protein and probiotic, specifically for animal feed.

According to a press release from The Trendlines Group, Insectta will operate out of Trendlines’ Agrifood Fund offices. The startup is aiming to have its first products on the market by the end of the year.

Since we don’t know the exact amount of funding at play here, this is a piece of news we might normally gloss over. But in the past thirty days, we’ve seen an eye-catching amount of investment in not only bug-based protein, but alternative protein in general.

Last month Hargol FoodTech, an Israel-based company making commercial grasshopper protein, raised $3 million. In the plant-based protein space, the past month has seen alternative chicken startup Rebellyous raised $6 million, Singaporean alt-meat company Growthwell Group grab $8 million, and Israeli chickpea protein producer Innovopro raise $25 million.

New funds, like Eat Beyond Global and Big Idea Ventures’ Generation Food, also show that COVID isn’t slowing investment in alternative protein. In fact, if anything it’s accelerating it. Outbreaks at meat processing plants and corresponding shortages have pushed investors to channel their funds into other protein sources — ones with more sustainable supply chains. Insects, with their low environmental footprint and high protein output, are clearly one of the spaces that investors think could have potential in our post-pandemic world.

The Food Tech Show: Are We Ready to Eat Bugs?

The Spoon team got together talk about the most interesting food and kitchen tech stories of the week, including:

As always, you can listen to the Food Tech Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, download direct to your device or just click play below.

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Future Food: Cultured Meat is Gaining Major $$$, and Should We Give Up on Insects?

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Memphis Meats, the Berkeley-based cellular agriculture company that famously grew the world’s first cell-based meatball in 2016, announced this week that it had raised an eye-popping $160 million dollar Series B round. That’s more than had been raised by the entire cellular agriculture and aquaculture space up to now. It also brings Memphis Meats’ total funding to over $180 million.

In some ways, this massive infusion of cash makes sense. Over the past few years cell-based meat and seafood has gone from futuristic vision to actually feasible reality. Cultured meat and seafood companies have demonstrated their potential though recent culinary demos and a spate of partnerships with large ingredient companies. Some have even released plans for giant production facilities that can churn out millions of pounds of cell-based meat per year.

But the key word here is plans. It’s notable that a company which has yet to bring a product to market — and could potentially never do so affordably or on a large scale — has raised such an eye-popping amount of cash. Even though it’s been given a vote of confidence by big-name investors like Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Tyson Foods.

We’re living in a time when investors are throwing cash at any startup that claims to be “disruptive,” with decidedly mixed results. Interestingly, Softbank, which recently went through its WeWork ordeal, led the Series B funding round for Memphis Meats. So is cell-based meat at risk of the same boom-and-bust cycle we’ve seen with other high-tech startups?

Memphis Meats’ cultured meatball

Frustratingly, without a product to market, it’s too early to say. I, however, am optimistic about the future of cultured meat and seafood. Studies indicate that one-third of U.S. consumers are open to trying cultured meat. That’s nowhere near the viral popularity of plant-based protein, but as cell-based meat becomes more commonplace — and proves that the product can be as tasty as the real thing — those numbers could rise.

One safe bet is that we can prepare to see a lot more funding funneling into cell-based meat and seafood. Now the pressure is on for those companies to put it to good use by actually getting a tasty product to market.

Should we stop bugging people to eat bugs?
Cultured meat may still be years away from our plate, but insects are ready to hop right on as our new source of alternative protein.

The question is, Will we (meaning Western consumers) ever get over our aversion to bugs and embrace the idea of eating them? The Spoon’s Head Editor Chris Albrecht pointed out a tweet from Mike Bird of the Wall Street Journal that basically said we should give up on insects. People just flat-out don’t want to eat them. I kinda agree.

https://twitter.com/Birdyword/status/1220360879021015041?s=20

I’ve bought cricket chips and tried roasted grasshopper occasionally in the past, but am I ready to make bugs an everyday dietary staple? No way.

I feel pretty guilty about that. We’ve all heard the preaching about how eating bugs is good for the environment, a healthy choice, and can be downright tasty. They’re available everywhere from high-class restaurants to protein bars. They’re even sold at baseball stadiums, for goodness’ sake!

But no matter how much we know we should learn to love insects, I’m skeptical it will ever happen. At least as long as we can see the insects that we’re eating. Maybe the solution is to double down on insect-infused spices and protein powder, which lets you forget you’re eating things with wings and antennae.

Or maybe, like Bird points out, it’s just time to give up. Let’s leave the bugs outside and focus on making protein from plants and animal cells, instead.

Photo: JUST’s new plant-based omelet

Protein Around the Web

  • TurtleTree Labs, a Sinagpore-based company growing lactating mammary gland cells in a lab (which produce milk!), secured an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding.
  • Sweet Earth Foods (owned by Nestlé) will begin selling its plant-based meats at so-called ‘Vegetarian Butcher’ deli counters at select supermarkets (h/t VegNews).
  • JUST is releasing a pre-made frozen vegan omelet made from mung beans, which will be sold in grocery stores and foodservice.

Eat well,
Catherine

Ÿnsect Raises €110M to Build the World’s Largest Insect Farm (to Help Feed Fish)

Ÿnsect, a Paris-based company that farms insects for protein used in fish and pet food as well as fertilizer, announced today that it has raised a €110 million (~$124M USD) Series C round led by Astanor Ventures. This brings the total amount raised by Ÿnsect to $149.5 million.

The news comes via EU-Startups, which says that Ÿnsect will use the money to build the world’s biggest insect farm in Amiens Metropole, Northern France, which will eventually produce 20,000 tons of protein year.

When we talk about bug-based protein, we often talk about crickets, which are a source of easily renewable protein for baking flour or even workout supplements. Ÿnsect, however focuses on Molitor larvae, or mealworms.

One of the ways those mealworms will be put to use is as fish feed. Global demand for seafood has doubled in the past 50 years and continues to increase. Currently, roughly half of the seafood eaten worldwide comes from farmed fish, and that number is expected to hit 62 percent by 2030.

However, the food currently used to raise those farmed fish is… other fish in the form of fishmeal. A 2017 study from the University of British Columbia found that 90 percent of that fishmeal (roughly 18 million tons) is suitable for human consumption. Replacing fishmeal with insect feed like that made by Ÿnsect could help ease the stress on fish stocks, especially when combined with computer vision tech like Aquabyte’s to reduce overfeeding.

These efforts could in turn prolong our ability to savor salmon, at least until we’re able to make lab-grown fish.

Beast Mode: Chirp’s Launches Kickstarter for Cricket Protein Powder

For openminded bodybuilders who want to get ripped, there’s a new type of protein powder out ready for you to chug it down on the way to your morning CrossFit shred sesh.

Today Chirps, the San Francisco-based company which makes insect chips in flavors like Sriracha and BBQ, launched a Kickstarter for its newest product: Cricket Protein Powder. The powder has 20 grams of protein per serving and is made of peas, brown rice, chia seeds, and, oh yeah, insects.

Typically, protein powder is made either with soy, which can lead to deforestation, or whey, which can have, um, undesired gastrointestinal outputs. Crickets are also one of the more sustainable protein sources out there: it takes one gallon of water to produce one pound of crickets, but it takes roughly 300 gallons to grow one pound of soybeans, and over 1,000 gallons to make one pound of whey (because cows).

It should be noted, briefly, that not all proteins are created equal. Both cricket and whey are complete proteins, meaning they contain all 9 essential animo acids, but whey stands out because it absorbs super quickly into the body to stimulate post-workout muscle growth. I couldn’t find any solid information about cricket absorption rates online, so muscle-heads, take that as you will.

The one-pound tubs of protein powder, which come in chocolate or vanilla, are priced at $39 for one, $65 for two, and $78 for three (share one with a friend!). There’s no information on what the retail price of the powder will be. Until Dec. 16th backers can take advantage of the “Holiday Special,” which basically means you get a free cricket cookbook and a guarantee that your order will arrive in time for “Crickmas.”

In fact, Chirps promises to have the first ~3,000 units delivered before December 25th, with the rest shipping in February 2019. Yes, that’s three weeks away — but I’m optimistic they can pull it off. The company already managed one successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to launch their cricket chips, in which they reached their $30,000 goal in three days.

Judging from some sleuthing on the Updates page, however, they did seem to have struggled with a 9-month shipping delay. But that was four years ago. Since then Chirps seems to have fixed any production snags; the chips are available in dozens of shops around the U.S. and on Amazon.

Chirps isn’t the only company working to bring insects to the mainstream: Seek Food also launched a crowdfunding campaign for their cricket-based baking flour, fried grasshoppers are a fan favorite at Seattle’s Safeco field, and even celebrities have hopped (heh) on the edible insect bandwagon. Crik Nutrition also makes a cricket-based protein powder, though theirs is quite a bit pricier.

If their goal is to make insect-eating the norm, it makes sense for Chirps to target the health food market. Crickets are a great source of protein, iron, and B12, and when they’re pulverized into a powder or an energy bar a lot of the “ick” factor goes away.

Hopefully Chirps and others can help de-stigmatize bug-eating in the U.S. — and help you shred your quads along the way.

Can Celebrities (and Celebrity Chefs) Help Us Overcome The Insect “Ick” Factor?

We all know that we should be eating insects. After all, bugs are a dietary staple for billions of people around the globe, and they have a significantly lower environmental footprint than meat. But Americans are still having a tricky time getting over the “ick” factor that comes with munching on crawling critters.

The concept is popular in theory. According to Meticulous Research, the global insects market is expected to be valued at almost $1.2 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 23.8% from 2018. This increase is mainly due to a ballooning population, waning food resources, and a high demand for protein.

All logical arguments aside, a lot of people are still pretty grossed out when it comes to eating bugs. But some influencers — chefs, celebrities, and celebrity chefs — are trying to change that.

“Eating insects is intellectually popular right now, and it’s a great conversation piece,” said Meeru Dhalwala, chef at Vancouver restaurant Vij. “But more chefs need to experiment with insects.”

Some are certainly trying. Rene Redzepi of Noma fame has been known to make liberal use of ants on his menus. Alex Atala, who was on Season 2 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, uses Amazonian insects on his menus. In the commercial sphere, Bitty Foods developed cricket flour cookies in tandem with celebrity chef (and smart kitchen enthusiast) Tyler Florence. Cricket protein bar company Exo, who just got acquired by Aspire Food Group, partnered with chef Kyle Connaughton to develop their creations.

Celebrities are pushing the insect diet, too. Salma Hayek posted a video of herself sampling crickets on Instagram, and has been eating ants and grasshoppers since she was a child. Angelina Jolie cooked up a feast of tarantulas and scorpions in Cambodia for a video on BBC News. Questlove has shared a video of himself eating a cricket-topped salad. And most recently, Nicole Kidman caused ripples across the internet by eating a four-course meal of “micro-livestock” — also known as bugs — for Vanity Fair’s Secret Talent Theatre.

Nicole Kidman Eats Bugs | Secret Talent Theatre | Vanity Fair

As she works her way through plate after plate of mealworms, hornworms, crickets, and grasshoppers, she points out that 2 billion people around the world eat bugs. “And I’m one of them,” she said.

Kidman genuinely seems to be eating the insects, and even enjoying them. She basically swoons when she opens up her serving platter to revel fried grasshoppers. “These are amazing,” she gushes. “I’d recommend them.”

I’d be curious to see if her performance — or other celebrity’s vocal support for bug consumption — translates to an uptick in ecommerce purchases of insects and insect products.

Personally, I think that insects could find their entrance into the mainstream through the health and exercise food market. Crickets, for example, are 65% protein (compared to beef’s 50%), packed with vitamins, minerals, and Omega-3 fatty acids, and are very low in fat. And when they’re roasted and milled into flour, crickets can be added to a myriad of dishes in a relatively under-the-radar way. A survey by PureGym in the U.K found that 35% of gym-goers were willing to try edible insects. I could see them being used in powdered drink supplements and expanding their presence in the energy bar sector.

As high-protein, low-carb diets grow in popularity, crickets (and other insects) may have found their time to shine. As long as people can channel their inner Nicole Kidman and get over the “ick” factor, first.