Demand for protein in all its forms is increasing significantly as the global population is increasing day by day. Protein is an important element for the growth and development of both animal and human bodies. There are several benefits of taking protein into the diet, such as it increases muscle mass and strength, strengthens bones, boosts metabolism, and has many other benefits. It is also not an easy task to supply protein-based food to the world’s growing population since supply is hampered due to increased pressure on scarce resources available from land as well as water bodies and because of the impact of climate changes.
The global insect protein market was estimated to be at $342.87 million in 2021, which is expected to grow with a CAGR of 26.49% and reach $1,386.55 million by 2027.
Crops and animals, which are the major protein sources, require a significant amount of land as well as water to grow, further generating lots of greenhouse gases, and hence, a new alternative is required to sustainably meet the demand. In this case, insect protein can be quite beneficial. Insect proteins are high-quality feedstock extracted from insects that are utilized as ingredients for feed for animals, pets, poultry, and fish. They are also an alternative source of protein utilized in food and beverages.
Insect protein can be used as an alternative to the traditional sources of protesins such as meat and soy. Nowadays, consumers are further shifting their consumption patterns toward more sustainable food sources and prefer to have supplements in their diet. Insect protein powder hence is gaining popularity among the consumers globally. Some other trending products are insect protein bars, cookies, pasta, and insect flour. The byproducts of insect protein processing are further utilized as frass in fertilizer, and the frass is quite rich in minerals and a good source of nutrients and is beneficial for crop growth. Since the insect protein finds several applications in food, feed, pharmaceuticals, personal care, and agriculture industry, this market has an opportunity to grow in the near future.
To feed the world’s growing population, farmers and food manufacturers are continuously looking for alternate sources of food since food scarcity is a major issue in many underdeveloped countries. Since insect protein offers a higher percentage of protein content than animal and other plant proteins, it has the potential to solve the mentioned problem. Other than this, insects can be raised in a limited area, and insect processing does not emit much CO₂ and greenhouse gasses. Hence it is environment friendly and sustainable as well. It is utilized in the food as well as animal feed industry widely.
There are several insect types that have been utilized in the food, feed, and personal care industries. Insects such as crickets, Black Soldier Fly, mealworms, grasshoppers, ants, and many other insect types are used for edible purposes. Edible crickets are among the significant insects which are gaining acceptance in terms of human food as well as animal feed.
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Crickets are high in macro and micro-mineral elements like calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, and copper. Crickets are further high in vitamins such as B group vitamins, along with that crickets have vitamins A, C, D, E, and K. They further come with high protein content. When compared to livestock, cricket farming is more environmental-friendly owing to its low greenhouse gas emissions, low water as well as feed intake, and limited land area requirement for production. Crickets have wider applications in food products. From all these factors, it can be said that this segment will grow further in the near future.
Global Insect Protein Market (by Application)
Insect protein finds numerous applications in poultry feed, aquafeed, pet food, pig’s feed, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal care products. Insect meal is gaining popularity in countries such as China, Europe, North America, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Large-scale insect farming is also beneficial since it requires lesser space, is cost-effective, and its processing does not have a negative impact on the environment. It is considered a sustainable resource to be used for aquafeed. Insect oil, as well as insect meal, is further highly utilized in animal feed. Several research studies have also shown that insect meal obtained from Black Soldier Fly, housefly, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, earthworm, mealworms, and others are utilized as a feed ingredient in poultry diets. Cricket powder is utilized significantly in insect protein in human food and beverages. Protein powder, pasta, protein bars, cookies, and several other items are prepared from crickets. Furthermore, waste from insect production produces large left-over substrate and frass. This byproduct has been utilized as a biofertilizer for crop production owing to its nutrient and microbial characteristics.
Global Insect Protein Market (by Region)
The global insect protein market is expected to grow during the forecast period owing to factors such as a shift in consumer preferences from animal protein to alternative proteins such as insect-based protein. This is due to the rise in concern toward sustainability and growing hunger in the world. The countries in North America and Europe have more consumption of insect protein since the consumers in these regions are supportive of innovative and alternate sources of food. Insect protein has been utilized majorly in pet food, aquafeed, pig’s food, poultry feed, and others. North America and Europe have technological advantages in insect processing since the market players own large production units. In addition to that, there are several key market players and startups from North America and Europe operating in this market. Thus, the insect protein market has a huge presence in the North America and Europe regions.
Competitive Landscape of Global Insect Protein Market
The global insect protein market has seen major development by key players operating in the market, such as mergers and acquisitions, business expansion, partnerships, collaboration, and joint ventures, product launches. For instance, in February 2022, FeedWerkz, a Singapore-based insect farming technology startup, launched a fully integrated pet food product line under the brand Conscious Creatures. Again, in February 2022, InnovaFeed and ADM signed a strategic collaboration agreement. According to this agreement, Innovafeed will offer its Black soldier Fly protein to ADM's pet food division to make "high-quality nutritious" products that have a "much smaller carbon footprint and land need" than conventional animal protein. Earlier in June 2020, Protix announced its collaboration with Agrifirm. This agreement resulted in the launch of several new initiatives that will make use of Protix's insect-based compounds.
Insect protein can fulfill the protein needs not only of animals but also of humans as well. Insect protein has been widely utilized in animal feed, pet food, aquafeed, food and beverage products, cosmetics, as well as personal care products. For pigs and fishes, insects are known as the suitable source to be used in feed to obtain a better yield of meat. Also, consumers are continuously looking for better protein supplements, and insect protein fits well in this case. In addition, it is also used in pharmaceutical drugs. Research institutes and market players offering protein from insects are vigorously working on related R&D activities. The market players have put in considerable efforts to develop innovative strategies for increasing the availability of insect protein-based food and feed products in the global market. Also, they are focusing on targeting the emerging markets with high populations, such as India and China, on selling their products. China also owns the world’s largest cockroach farm. Cockroach powder is utilized in skin treatment and as feed for animals. Along with that, the integration of several innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics can further open up new opportunities for this market to grow in the upcoming future. Hence, analyzing all the above factors, it can be presumed that the insect protein market has the potential to grow during the forecast period.
