This may sound stomach-churning, but these insects could become the sustainable food of the future \u2013 at least for fish and animals \u2013 helping reduce the reliance on resource intensive proteins such as fishmeal and soy, while also mitigating the use of antibiotics in the food chain, one of the causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria.<\/p>\n
The company behind this idea is Entomics Biosystems. It was set up in 2015 by a group of students from the University of Cambridge, with support from the Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre\u2019s \u2018Accelerate Cambridge\u2019 programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those stories where we came together in a pub over a pint, talking about weird ideas,\u201d explains its CEO and co-founder Matt McLaren. \u201cThe team has members from the Department of Biochemistry, from Engineering, from the [Judge] Business School, so it really is a diverse skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the company, each year over 1.30 billion tonnes of food are wasted globally \u2013 equating to around US$1 trillion of lost value. With an increasing population and modern lifestyles, the burden of food waste on society and the environment is set to increase in the future.<\/p>\n
Entomics focuses on \u2018insect biomass conversion.\u2019 Larvae of the black soldier fly chew their way through several tonnes of food waste collected from local supermarkets and food processing plants. The insects are fed different \u2018recipes\u2019 under controlled conditions to see how these affect growth rates and nutritional profiles. They metabolise the food waste into fats and proteins, growing to around 5,000 times their body weight within just a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
As Matt McLaren explained, these fats and proteins \u201care great sources of nutrition for salmon and poultry \u2013 in fact, insects are part of their natural diet.\u201d
Entomics is currently working with partners including the University of Stirling, who are world-leading salmon aquaculture experts, to validate and test their products in the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarmed salmon in Scotland are currently fed on fishmeal which comes from wild-caught anchovies from as far away as Chile and Peru, which are then shipped across the world to Scotland,\u201d he said. \u201cInsects provide a nice, sustainable solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
With support including from Innovate UK and the European Institute of Technology (via EIT FoodKIC), Entomics is using a novel bioprocessing technique to boost the nutritional and functional benefits of these insect-derived feeds, using a microbial fermentation technology they have termed \u2018Metamorphosis\u2019. Essentially, these specialised feeds represent a sustainable, holistic approach to improving overall fish health and welfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are several benefits to this process,\u201d explained Miha Pipan, Chief Scientific Officer and fellow co-founder, \u201cfrom affecting the gut\u2019s microbiome and trying to preserve a healthier bacterial community there, to training immune systems to make livestock more resistant to disease challenges and at the same time reduce the need for veterinary medicines, antibiotics and vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world\u2019s looking for more sustainable sources of feed and I think increasingly there\u2019s a recognition that it\u2019s not just about basic nutrition, but it\u2019s about overall health,\u201d Matt McLaren added. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to take a promising, sustainable ingredient of the future \u2013 these insect-derived feeds \u2013 and trying to add a bit of biotechnology or science focus to it, to really enhance what the effect is in the end application and reduce reliance on traditional antibiotics and veterinary medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is endless potential for innovation in the emerging insect industry in general, and the Entomics team is also working on an engineering project to build a smart, modular system for insect production in the future. This includes developing computer vision algorithms to understand and monitor insect behaviour during the production process \u2013 for example, the insects\u2019 growth and health.<\/p>\n
McLaren is grateful of the support that the company received from the Cambridge Judge Business School to get itself off the ground. \u201cThe mentorship and coaching provided by the Accelerate Cambridge programme in particular has been vital to getting our business to its current stage, and the credibility of the Cambridge brand has allowed us to engage with some great academic and commercial partners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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