State of Insect Production 2022

What is the purpose of this survey and how it works?

The anonymous survey was designed to look at where the industry is today and where it plans to be tomorrow. The survey consists of optional questions that will help you gain insight into the current market landscape, high level business practices and production performance along with risks and opportunities specific to this industry.

Please complete this survey if you are actively involved and working within the insect production business.

A high level summary of the results related to quality control practices will be presented at the Insect to Feed the World conference on 16th June 2022. A full summarized and anonymous report or summary will be sent to you by 20th of June 2022.

We appreciate your participation and willingness to take part in the development of the industry!

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* 1. What insect species do you farm?

Black Soldier Flies

Mealworms

Crickets

Other

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* 2. Following replies will require to concentrate on one particular species within your entire operations. In case you produce more than one more species, please select the species that will tie together with further answers.

Black Soldier Flies

Mealworms

Crickets

Other

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* 3. How many years has your company been in operation?

0-2

3-5

6-10

11-20

+20

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* 4. What region(s) is/are your production site(s) located or planned to be located?

Europe

North America

Middle East and North Africa

Eurasia

East Asia and Pacific

Latin America and the Caribbean

Sub Saharan Africa

South Asia

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* 5. What type of facility do you currently have?

Low tech indoor vertical farm

Mid to high tech indoor vertical farm

Outdoor low tech horizontal farm

Container farm

Other

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* 6. What are the final products that you sell or intend to sell?

Eggs

Insect protein

Insect fats

Whole live insect (untreated)

Whole insect (treated)

Hydrolyzed insect proteins

Other

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* 7. What is your target market you sell or intend to sell to?

Aquaculture

Poultry

Pigs

Pets

Biotechnology/Research

Fur and other animals

Technical uses

Other

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* 8. How many people on average work per facility?

1-9

10-50

51-100

101-200

201-300

>300

I do not have an estimate at this time

I prefer not to share

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* 9. Cost of labor spent per ton of live insect mass in $?

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* 10. Cost of utilities spent per ton of live insect mass in $?

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* 11. Cost of feed spent per ton of live insect mass in $ (leave + sign before stating the amount if you are getting paid to take feed) ?

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* 12. What are your main sales channels?

Direct channels (direct order from buyers and consumers)

Retailer

Wholesaler

Marketplaces

Distributor

Other

We don’t sell yet

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 13. How much live insect mass are you currently producing (ton/month) on average per facility?

<0.9t/month

1-5t/month

6-10t/month

11-100t/month

100-1000t/month

1001 - 2000t/month

2001 - 3000t/month

3001 - 4000t/month

4001 - 5000t/month

>5000t/month

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 14. How much live insect mass do you plan to produce by the end of 2023 (ton/month) on average per facility?

<0.9t/month

1-5t/month

6-10t/month

11-100t/month

101-1000t/month

1001 - 2000t/month

2001 - 3000t/month

3001 - 4000t/month

4001 - 5000t/month

>5000t/month

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 15. Do you have any long-term sales contracts signed?

Yes

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 16. Do you have all legal permits to sell your insect derived products?

Yes

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 17. How much feed input does your production currently require (ton/month)?

0-5t/month

6-50t/month

51-100t/month

101-1000t/month

1001t/month - 5000t/month

5001t/month - 10.000t/month

10.001t/month - 25.000t/month

>25.000t/month

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

Question Title

* 18. How much feed input will your production require by the end of 2023 (ton/month)?

0-5t/month

6-50t/month

51-100t/month

101-1000t/month

1001t/month - 5000t/month

5001t/month - 10.000t/month

10.001t/month - 25.000t/month

>25.000t/month

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

Question Title

* 19. What are your feed inputs ?

Pre consumer waste

Post consumer waste

Non waste based feed

Nutritional additives

Premixed by suppier

Mixed internaly

We don’t mix different raw materials

Other

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 20. What are your current funding needs?

We need money for working capital

We need money for projects funding

We don’t need any kind of funding

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 21. What quality control aspects do you incorporate into your operations?

We have standard operating procedures in place

We have standard safety protocols in place

We have clearly defined responsibilities how, when and who performs monitoring and checking

We perform regular quality control checking

We record and keep quality control check documentation

We have critical limits defined for each parameter

We have decision making tree prepared for different scenarios

We are able to trace back unlimited number of steps backward and check detailed history of all cycle information together with notes and family tree

Other

I do not have quality controls in place yet

I prefer not to share

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* 22. How many times in your work practice have you experienced major production issues when you had to remove a major part of your colony or final product out of stock?

Never

1-5 times

5-10 times

> 10 times

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 23. How predictable is your current output?

We are getting planned output with 100% accuracy

We are getting planned output with >90% accuracy

We are getting planned output with >80% accuracy

We are getting planned output with > 60% accuracy

I cannot determine our predictability at this time

I prefer not to share

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* 24. How do you ensure traceability through your production system?

Physical tags combined with spreadsheets, pen and paper

Software and scanning device

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

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* 25. What key aspect of business would you like to improve with help of technology?

Managing operations more efficiently

Lowering cost of production

Increasing yield

Achieving better quality of product

Interacting with customers better

Food safety and compliance

Other

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* 26. What is your current wet FCR of the production larvae in your facility?

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* 27. What is your current dry FCR of the production larvae in your facility?

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* 28. What is the current average daily egg yield /m³ in your facility?

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* 29. What is the current average production yield /m² in your facility?

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* 30. What light spectrum (nm) do you apply in the breeding unit?

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* 31. What light intensity (µmol/m²s) do you apply in the breeding unit?

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* 32. What light color do you apply in the breeding unit?

Blue/purple

Yellow/green

Orange/red

White

I don’t know

I prefer not to share

It is not relevant

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* 33. What is your current role within the company?

CEO, Director, President, or similar

CTO, Head of engineering, or similar

COO, Head of operations, or similar

CFO, Head of finance department or similar

Biologist, Entomologist or similar

R&D manager or similar

Operation manager, Rearing manager, Breeding manager or similar

Other

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* 34. How long have you been working within the industry?

< 1 year

1-3 years

4-6 years

7-10 years

> 10 years

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* 35. What are the biggest challenge to operate an insect production company?

Access to working capital

Sales

Managing and hiring labor

Reducing operating cost

Food safety and compliance

Lack of technology

Other

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* 36. Do you have any additional notes or comments?

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* 37. Please leave your email address if you would like to get the anonymous survey results. The report will be sent to the email provided.

Disclaimer: Cogastro is committed to ensuring the highest standards of data protection and data security. Cogastro will not collect any private information without your consent and it has no right whatsoever to share individual responses or and any private information as this would be considered a data breach.

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* 38. If you would like to receive similar information and surveys in the future, please mark the field to express your agreement.

Yes