Why InsectCentre

Why insects: healthy, tasty and simple
Not everyone is enticed by the idea of insects as a food but it is a fact that more than 80% of the world population have them on their menu. For instance, eating insects is an everyday occurrence in Thailand. In the U.S. locusts are lovingly called “flying shrimps” which brings them much closer to our normal eating patterns.
Insects are in fact very healthy: they contain high quality proteins and fats. Insects can furthermore be eaten by humans as well as animals, in both whole forms, such as dried mealworms, or ground into products such as falafel or croquettes. For example, we have found that the addition of mealworms to meat balls results in a tastier ball overall.
 

Why insects: solving a world problem?
In the coming 10 years the demand for meat and fish is expected to double. That is mainly due to the growing world population and increasing overall wealth – when we have more money to spend we eat more meat. The problem is that our planet is too small to produce enough meat and fish in the conventional ways that we are used to. We therefore have to come up with alternatives.
Insects are a possible solution supported by three main reasons:

1. 1. Do you know that in order to produce one kilo of fish, one kilo of smaller fish have to be caught? Imagine now that we could produce a large amount of fish with feed mainly made out of insects? We would kill two birds with one stone. More fish and less overfishing.
2. 2. We can also use insects as a direct food source for human consumption. They are healthy and easy to process. We can take insects apart in such a way that proteins and fats become accessible. These can be mixed with normal meat or vegetarian products. The nice thing is that studies show that products taste even better with the addition of insect meal. Imagine a hamburger which is healthier, tastier and with which you can even contribute to world food security!
3. 3. Insects are natural clearers of waste. They are very useful creatures. The food industry produces lots of cuttings and other waste during the production of vegetables, fruits, cookies and bread. These are good quality products which cannot be sold directly to the consumer. By feeding these otherwise wasted products to insects they are transformed into high quality proteins and fats. A win-win situation for everyone.
    

Contributing / Community
InsectsCentre consists of several parties busy with the development of new insect-based products. This is something they love to do in cooperation with the end-consumer. That’s you! Together we can make better, tastier and suitable products.
We are looking for enthusiastic people who want to participate in the development of this sector. Maybe you find the idea interesting and exciting; maybe you have some good ideas yourself; perhaps you have some time and want to contribute to this innovative process of exploring the world of insects, or perhaps you want to make money in this way – no matter what your motivation is, you can join the InsectCentre Community.
This is a platform for you to post your questions once you are registered. There is also the chance to donate (preferably via iDeal) something for the realisation of projects. We will decide together which of the many innovative projects the money will be donated to. Together with InsectCentre, you can make a real impact on the world of insects as we know it.
To help us improving our network, you are kindly invited to fill out our survey. Please click here for the questionnaire: Survey