Context

Insects have a very particular position in this world. Comprising more than one million known species, insects represent an endless source of interest and knowledge. They offer a broad range of exploitable and marketable resources, useful to humankind thanks to their multiple applications: healthcare, nutrition, agriculture, aquaculture, energy…

Rearing insects is thus extraordinarily promising: consuming very little, it could make use of untapped resources and initiate a virtuous circle of recycling, preventing the ongoing waste of food.

Yet, does the exploitation of their potential and biotechnological properties respond to the growing needs of our planet in terms of food, healthcare or energy? What are the actual prospects and economic stakes? How to fit the development of these techniques into a sustainable perspective? How can a better knowledge of the insect and its ecosystem support the development of these techniques? What backing can be expected from the authorities?

In this context, it seemed relevant to hold our second session of INSECTINOV.

Goals

Conduct a thorough review of research advancements and current industrial developments, in Europe and elsewhere, in order to broaden our vision of potentials and remaining obstacles to be lifted. Beyond scientific and technological aspects, regulatory, economic and societal considerations will be dealt with.

Assess the entire line of production: from diverse insect rearing systems to various industrial processing and transformation methods. Evaluate how sustainable the whole sector is, from upstream to downstream.

Provide a comprehensive update on latest research about biomass mobilization (accurate estimate of the biomass resource…)

Identify the most sustainable processes that could form the core of a future biorefinery, sorting insect proteins, lipids and chitin.

Discuss the prospects arising from new market opportunities as well as from current innovations.

Targeted audience

This symposium is open to all those interested in the potential of new insect production lines and aims to share experiences and feedback from those already engaged with the future actors of the development chain:

• Researchers
• Industrials (start-ups, SMEs, large groups) interested in exploiting new sustainable deposits via breeding and upgrading of insects and co-products
• Trade unions
• Equipment engineering companies, downstream processing
• Actors in the production / management / collection of potential resources / under-exploited food co-products
• Business Intelligence
• Public and private investors
• Economists
• Competitiveness clusters
• Representatives of major institutions (environment, agriculture, research)

October 12^th Workshops

Links on the subject ...

• The FAO Insect Publication - Insects for Food and Feed