Insects as everyday food and animal feed

How far is insect protein from mainstream food and feed?

Insect protein is permitted in EU feed for farmed fish, pigs and poultry, and the EU has authorised several insects as novel foods, including UV-treated yellow mealworm powder in January 2025. The sources reviewed give no verified production volumes. Ynsect, a French producer, entered judicial liquidation in December 2025 after failing to secure funding to continue, and its industrial site near Dole is to close. A 2024 UK analysis estimated that meat from black soldier fly-fed animals would cost about 50% more than meat from soy-fed animals.

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WHERE WE AREPilots

Close. Early pilots are running in the real world.

Insect protein is legally permitted in EU feed, some insect foods are authorised, and at least one industrial-scale plant has been built. A major French producer has since entered liquidation. The sources reviewed give no verified production volumes and no market price showing insect protein competing with soy or fishmeal without a premium. That fits a pilot stage of limited commercial production, not scaling or widespread use.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Insects as everyday food and animal feed Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2017Insect protein farmingPilot and early commercial Unlocked.
  1. 2017Insect protein allowed in EU aquaculture feedDone Unlocked.
  2. 2021Insect protein allowed in EU pig and poultry feedDone Unlocked.
  3. 2021EFSA finds dried yellow mealworm safe as a food under set conditionsDone Unlocked.
  4. 2024Insect protein priced close to soy mealNot started Locked.
  5. 2025Several insects authorised as EU novel foodsDone Unlocked.
  6. 2025Industrial insect plant running consistently and profitablyNot started Locked.
  7. Date not recordedEFSA safety opinions on the remaining insect applicationsIn progress Being researched.
  8. Date not recordedInsect volume large enough to replace a meaningful share of soy and fishmealNot started Locked.
  1. GoalInsects as everyday food and animal feedGoalRequires: Insect protein farming, Insect protein allowed in EU aquaculture feed, Insect protein allowed in EU pig and poultry feed, EFSA finds dried yellow mealworm safe as a food under set conditions, Several insects authorised as EU novel foods, EFSA safety opinions on the remaining insect applications, Industrial insect plant running consistently and profitably, Insect protein priced close to soy meal, Insect volume large enough to replace a meaningful share of soy and fishmeal. Locked.

The road so far

4 of 8 steps done, 1 in progress.

  1. Done · 2017Insect protein allowed in EU aquaculture feed

    A 2023 review in Heliyon reports that reared insects have been legal in aquaculture feed since 2017, under Regulation (EU) 2017/893. The regulation text itself could not be read in this research, so the date rests on the review. [3]

  2. Done · 2021Insect protein allowed in EU pig and poultry feed

    The same review reports that Regulation (EU) 2021/1372 extended permission to pig and poultry feed, and that eight insect species are permitted in animal feed. It says the rearing substrate is restricted to vegetable materials. The review does not discuss insect feed for ruminants, but it describes the general ban on animal protein in ruminant feed. [3]

  3. Done · 13 Jan 2021EFSA finds dried yellow mealworm safe as a food under set conditions

    EFSA's Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens concluded that dried yellow mealworm is safe under the proposed uses and use levels. The opinion was adopted on 24 November 2020 and published on 13 January 2021. EFSA said consumption may cause allergic reactions in people with allergy to crustaceans and dust mites. It also said the 24-month shelf life proposed by the applicant may be too long, and could not reach a conclusion on shelf life because suitable data for intermediate time points were not provided. [2]

  4. Done · 20 Jan 2025Several insects authorised as EU novel foods

    The Commission's insect novel food page lists authorisations for frozen, dried and powder forms of yellow mealworm (Regulation (EU) 2022/169), migratory locust (2021/1975), house cricket (2022/188) and lesser mealworm (2023/58). It also lists UV-treated yellow mealworm powder, authorised on 20 January 2025 under Regulation (EU) 2025/89. The page's own count of insect authorisations is inconsistent, so this record relies on the regulations it names. [1]

  5. In progressEFSA safety opinions on the remaining insect applications

    The Commission page says five insect applications are under EFSA safety evaluation. No EFSA opinion on a black soldier fly novel food was found in the sources reviewed. [1]

  6. Not started · Dec 2025Industrial insect plant running consistently and profitably

    Ynsect built an industrial-scale facility near Dole, France, which the company is to close. A commercial court ordered the company into judicial liquidation in early December 2025. Food & Agribusiness reports that the company could not secure the funding it needed to continue. The pilot facility near Dole was acquired in April 2025 by Keprea, a venture of former CEO Antoine Hubert, and will focus on fertiliser from insect waste. The company's president said it had solid technologies and an operational model, but the required funding could not be secured in time. The sources reviewed do not say whether the Dole plant ran consistently at scale. [4][5]

  7. Not started · 2 Apr 2024Insect protein priced close to soy meal

    Frontier Economics, in a summary dated 2 April 2024 of a UK report on black soldier fly feed, estimated that meat from black soldier fly-fed animals would be about 50% more expensive than soy-fed meat. The same summary says a food-waste scenario could produce enough protein to displace 28% of the soy used in feed, and refers to a modest black soldier fly-fed meat premium of 5% to 9%. The sources reviewed give no verified current price per tonne for insect meal. [6]

  8. Not startedInsect volume large enough to replace a meaningful share of soy and fishmeal

    Rethink Priorities' December 2024 model projects a median industry capacity of 221,000 tonnes of dried insects in 2030, for black soldier fly and mealworm. That is a projection of capacity, not output achieved. No verified comparison with soy or fishmeal volumes was found. [7]

Why it matters

Insects could turn low-value food waste into feed protein, which could reduce demand for soy. Whether that works depends on cost and reliable production at scale, not on approvals alone. The outcome will shape how much food waste becomes feed and whether protein for people can come from insects at a price shoppers accept.

What stands in the way

  • A Frontier Economics summary dated April 2024 estimated that meat from black soldier fly-fed animals would cost about 50% more than soy-fed meat. The sources reviewed give no verified current price per tonne for insect meal.
  • Ynsect, which had built an industrial-scale facility near Dole, entered judicial liquidation in December 2025 after failing to secure funding to continue. The sources reviewed do not show how well its plants ran.
  • Rethink Priorities found that at least 36% of just under $2 billion in publicly disclosed investment in insect farming, to June 2024, went to companies that had stopped operating or entered court-supervised restructuring.
  • The EU feed rules limit what insects can be reared on to vegetable substrates. The 2023 review also describes the general ban on animal protein in ruminant feed, which it does not apply to insects specifically.
  • Insect foods need a novel food authorisation, and the Commission's list shows these granted product by product. EFSA said dried yellow mealworm may cause allergic reactions in people allergic to crustaceans and dust mites, and could not conclude on shelf life.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
Rethink Priorities (Sagar Shah)Median projected industry capacity of about 221,000 tonnes of dried black soldier fly larvae and mealworm in 2030, with a 5th to 95th percentile range of 90,000 to 695,000 tonnes. The model does not factor in demand and does not account for scaling constraints such as substrate supply and cost. The author says uncertainty around the estimates is high. The median is less than half of a 2021 Rabobank projection of 500,000 tonnes, as Rethink reports it. [7]20305 Dec 2024

Signals to watch

  • EFSA opinions on the five pending insect applications, and the outcome of any black soldier fly novel food application.
  • Audited production costs or prices per tonne for insect meal, set against soy and fishmeal over several years.
  • A plant running at industrial scale for several years with steady output and a profit.
  • What happens to Ynsect's assets and the Dole pilot site under its new fertiliser venture.
  • EU rules that widen the permitted feedstocks, including food waste, or change the ruminant exclusion.

Sources

  1. government report
    Approval of another insect/insect-derived food as a Novel Food
    European Commission, 20 Jan 2025.
  2. government report
    Safety of dried yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larva) as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283
    EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA). EFSA Journal, 13 Jan 2021.
  3. review article
    The use of animal by-products in a circular bioeconomy: Time for a TSE road map 3?
    Nathan Meijer, Leo WD Van Raamsdonk, Elise WJ Gerrits et al.. Heliyon, Mar 2023.
  4. news
    Ÿnsect enters judicial liquidation as financing efforts fall through
    Vertical Farm Daily, 5 Dec 2025.
  5. news
    French insect protein firm Ynsect goes under
    Ruud Peijs. Food & Agribusiness, 6 Dec 2025.
  6. other
    Delivering insect-based feed at scale
    Tim Black, Rachel Keyserlingk, Ludovico Lattanzi. Frontier Economics, 2 Apr 2024.
  7. other
    Insect farming: investment trends and projected production capacity
    Sagar Shah. Rethink Priorities, 5 Dec 2024.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.