Good for the body and good for the environment? What advantages do insect proteins offer over conventional animal husbandry?
Crickets are ectothermic, which means that their body temperature is determined by the ambient temperature. Therefore, they do not need energy from feed to maintain their body temperature. As a result, feed contributes directly to their body growth, allowing them to use it to produce protein. This high efficiency makes them very resource-friendly. Compared to cattle as a traditional source of protein, crickets require only about 8% of feed, 2% of water and produce less than 1% of greenhouse gases.
SWARM Protein
Cologne startup
SWARM, founded by Timo Bäcker and Dr Christopher Zeppenfeld, offers food based on insect protein. ‘Actually, we thought it would be more likely that we’d find our target audience online. Initially, we planned a fairly linear sales structure with a start in e-commerce. But obviously we didn’t consider the food retail industry, which has been interested in our innovative products based on insect protein since we launched’, says co-founder Bäcker about the structure of the startup.