INSECT protein is creating a global buzz, with demand forthe fast-emerging ingredient in the animal feed and pet food sectors expected to reach half a million metric tonnes by 2030 - significantly up on today's estimated market of 10,000 metric tonnes, according to agri banking specialist Rabobank.While the potential for increased human consumption of insect protein has grabbed most headlines to date, Rabobank's recently-released global report No Longer Crawling: Insect Protein to Come of Age in the 2020s outlines the nutritional, functional and environmental benefits of insect-based nutrition and the value-adding potential in this fast-developing animal feed market.A high protein content (from 50 to 80 per cent dry matter basis) ensures the health benefits of insect protein as a feed ingredient to animals, the report says. While the benefits created by insects building circular food systems - because of their ability to upcycle low value agri-food material (such as food waste and residues) into high-value proteins and oils - are also being recognised.
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