Barriers, risks and risk management strategies in European insect supply chains

Abstract

Despite technological developments and regulatory improvements, most actors in the insect sector still face many challenges and uncertainties. While previous research mainly focused on the perception of domain-specific challenges and risks or has been limited to specific stages in the supply chain, this study aims to determine how stakeholders perceive the importance of past barriers and future risks along European insect supply chains, and to identify the applied risk management strategies. Data were collected from stakeholders across four stages of the supply chain (rearers (n=23), processors (n=8), and insect derived feed (n=14), and food (n=12) producers) through an online survey. In total, 60 different barriers and risks, as well as 20 different risk management strategies, were evaluated. We find that stakeholders across all stages of the supply chain perceived ‘financial, cost and market’ barriers and risks as most important, specifically referring to the lack of financial investments and price and demand uncertainties. In addition, legal restrictions were perceived to constrain upscaling opportunities across all supply chain stages. Worker and food safety barriers were generally perceived as least important. The main risk management strategies across all stages of the supply chain related to investments in technologies enhancing stability of both the quality and the quantity of insects and derived products. Stakeholders were most optimistic about the future reduction of ‘operational’ and ‘financial, cost and market’ risks. To further stimulate upscaling of the sector, we recommend to enhance financing opportunities, and to improve authorisations for the use of different substrates and the production of a wider set of insect-based ingredients for feed and food products.

Beyond the buzz: A review of the prospects of replacing meat consumption with insect-based foods

“…The strong psychological barriers leading to aversion in consumers may negatively affect the economic performance and growth of the insect feed and food sector 40,93,94 . In fact, the insect industry is aware of these issues-investments on insects as food products are surprisingly small.…”

Have the environmental benefits of insect farming been overstated? A critical review

“…However, "the degree of technological and social-institutional change required for meat alternatives is highest for [...] insects", as well as cultured meat and algae, more so than for plant-based meat substitutes (Figure 3) (van der Weele et al, 2019;van Huis, 2022). For instance, upscaling insect production requires regulatory changes at an institutional level to allow, e.g., the use of waste products as substrates, as well as technological changes to ensure high-quality production (van der Weele et al, 2019;Niyonsaba et al, 2023b). Insects have a lower consumer acceptance than all other meat substitutes (Onwezen et al, 2021).…”

“…In the event of diseases, entire insect populations in farms may need to be eradicated. The future of disease management in insect farming remains uncertain (Maciel-Vergara & Ros, 2017;Berggren et al, 2019), although in a recent survey of industry stakeholders, this issue is "considered of medium concern relative to other 'operational' barriers" (Niyonsaba et al, 2023b). Antibiotics could be used, but it is unclear whether this would be effective or desirable, considering the risk of antimicrobial resistance (Suckling et al, 2020).…”

“…Most studies have been conducted in small-scale settings, which may not accurately reflect real-world, industrial conditions. Many of the studies have been conducted in developing countries with tropical climates, which means that two of the largest cost components of insect production-labour and energy demand-may be underestimated (Halloran et al, 2017;Liverød, 2019;Thrastardottir, Olafsdottir & Thorarinsdottir, 2021;Niyonsaba et al, 2023bNiyonsaba et al, , 2023a. Also, most papers focus on a specific sector, leaving some important gaps in the literature.…”

Robustness of business models for insect production for feed and food in Europe

“…Only in recent decades has insect production for feed and food started to emerge in Europe and gained interest from entrepreneurs and other experts. Nevertheless, the sector still faces considerable challenges in creating and scaling up viable business models (BMs) (Marberg et al, 2017;Niyonsaba et al, 2023a;Payne et al, 2019). The main barriers are existing regulations, high production costs, unstable demands, and low revenues (Niyonsaba et al, 2023a;Veldkamp et al, 2022).…”