Insect.Systems: “The insect sector is filled with business opportunities”

"Our mission: to make the insect sector open-source. That's why, as an engineering firm, we share knowledge about costs and technologies for insect breeding and make plug & play machines and genetic starting material (eggs and hatchling larvae) available. In this way we want to give the sector a boost and involve entrepreneurs from all agricultural sectors. The growth potential of this sector is enormous, as insects are crucial for our future food supply and sustainable reuse of residual flows.

We are mainly active abroad with our designs and equipment for black soldier fly rearing, an insect mainly used as an ingredient in animal feed. We would like to see more companies in the Netherlands entering this sector, which requires a slightly different business perspective. A fallen pallet of fruit might be waste to a trader, but for insects it's a feast. And it's more sustainable than the streams currently used as insect food, such as spent brewer's grain, potato peel or sugar pulp. These substrates are already suitable as animal feed without any need of further processing.

To discover new opportunities, we need to work together and be transparent. And, if this is your mantra, then you can't ignore Foodvalley NL, because this is where everything and everyone around this subject comes together. What's more, this strong brand offers an international platform. We like to share our knowledge and contacts in webinars and symposia. And we are open to far-reaching interactions with other members. We're on a mission!

Alvaro Manzanares
Founder Insect.Systems
Insect.Systems