Diversifying and Adding Value to the Food Industry: Mealworm Powder as an Ingredient

Diversifying and Adding Value to the Food Industry: Mealworm Powder as an IngredientThe goal of this SBIR effort is to begin diversifying the insects as a food market currently valued at $105M and growing to $1.53 billion by 2021. Currently, crickets have been the primary focus of the market, but mealworms offer a strong alternative. To become competitive in the larger protein market, the insect based food industry must continue to innovate and diversify. Mealworms, mass produced in Europe, North America and Asia, have potential advantages over crickets. They tend to be more disease resistant, can be produced in smaller spaces at higher density (higher production per cubic foot) and may be more amenable to mechanized automated farming due to body shape and the fact that they do not jump or fly.As the human population grows, it is ever more important to sustain rather than increase our levels of consumption from the earth and it's ecosphere. Current sources of animal protein are unsustainable. Already 70% of agricultural land, and 30% of the land on earth, is used to produce livestock. Thus, expanding use of land for livestock is neither feasible nor sustainable. And, diversification of our food supply, especially for protein, is critical for food security. The good news is farming insects, such as mealworms (Yellow Mealworm, Tenebrio molitor), hold promise as a sustainable solution. They utilize less energy, feed, land and water than other livestock at any scale (small or large). Thus, farming insects contributes less to climate change and overall pollution levels. Indeed, insects are gaining momentum as a food ingredient. Starting 3-5 years ago, over 30 companies in North America and 50 in Europe offer a wide variety of food products with insects, primarily crickets, as a key ingredient. In fact, All Things Bugs LLC has led the development of crickets as a protein source, selling over 10,000 pounds of cricket powder. The overall objective of this Phase I is to generate preliminary data addressing barriers to market for mealworm powder by evaluating the feasibility of mealworm powder as an industrial food ingredient. With these funds we will be able to evaluate mealworm powder based on: 1) shelf life, 2) safety, 3) application performance, 4) food insect alternative to crickets, 5) processing efficiency, 6) nutritional value and 7) performance and functionality of mealworm powder as an ingredient in staple foods such as pastas, tortillas, cereals and snacks. If successful, this project will be a critical step toward revolutionizing the food industry by adding value to and diversifying an industry based on an entire Class of animals largely ignored to date - Insecta.All Things Bugs LLC (www.cricketpowder.com) (founded July 19, 2011) with its President, Founder and Owner Dr. Aaron T. Dossey, has emerged as a pioneer and world leader in this new field and industry. Recently, major news sources have covered insect as an up and coming source of food, often mentioning his company. Examples include: Huffington Post, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, The Newyorker, Fox News and others. Solidifying the firm's status, Dr. Dossey recently (July 2016) published a critical comprehensive foundational reference book, "Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients" covering all aspects of insects as food (historic and current). He attended the UN FAO Expert Consultation in 2012 in Rome, Italy on the potential contribution of insects to food security. He invented patent pending technology for production of insect based food ingredients (such as Griopro® cricket powder). His company has commercial success in selling to numerous food companies, with over $400,000 in sales and has received over $1.3 million in research grant funding from the USDA and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.