Food industry representatives predicted the popularity of insect dishes and algae, and, as major representatives of the food industry predict, dishes from crickets, worms and larvae will soon gain popularity, writes Bloomberg.
Humanity has begun to pay attention to the impact of food production on the environment, and considerations of saving the planet are seriously supporting the potential for alternative sources of protein, explains Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, director of innovation at Thai Union Group, which makes canned tuna. The company is now interested in using it in the production of insects. “Chicken and tuna made from vegetables or insects – we understand that the demand for them will grow much more than now,” he added.
Although insect products are not suitable for vegetarians, their production is much less harmful to the environment and does not require using as much land as keeping livestock or growing crops. In addition, we can talk about about two thousand edible species, and, according to the supporters of the idea, they have different tastes and useful properties. For example, mealworms are said to be odorless and rich in vitamins and minerals, while grasshoppers are an excellent source of protein.
Potential market developments have supported the EU's decision this year: Brussels acknowledged that locusts can be eaten by humans, and European regulators are now studying other insect species. Barclays predicts annual sales of edible beetles in 2030 to reach $ 8 billion, a significant increase from less than a billion in 2019.
Such a prospect could pose a challenge for today's vegetable meat giants … While their products are gaining more and more popularity, including in Russia. Thus, the demand for vegetable “meat” in the country over the past 12 months has grown by 4 percent in physical terms, while sales of “traditional” meat fell by three percent, according to NielsenIQ. In total, the segment of alternative “meat” and “dairy” products, which includes substitutes for milk, cream, yoghurts, cottage cheese, sour cream, kefir and meat, grew in 2021 in monetary terms by 18 percent, and in physical terms – by 19. The segment of traditional goods in monetary terms In terms of money, it increased by 6 percent, and in physical terms, it decreased by a percent compared to last year.