A new report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and British retailer Tesco shows that the total annual demand for insect powder in the UK pig, poultry and salmon industry will reach around 540,000 tonnes by 2050. The main constraints restricting its development are insect powder and insect protein extraction technology that restricts the development of farmers and expands their industries.
This level of insect meal production could result in the replacement of around 16,000 tonnes of fishmeal and 524,000 tonnes of soybeans, equivalent to one-fifth of the UK's expected imports of soybeans in 2050, or Tesco's UK soybean footprint for the full year of 2018.
They argue that replacing soybeans with viable alternative feeds such as insect protein could help protect important ecosystems like the Brazilian Celado. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Tesco are calling on UK policymakers and industry to take immediate action to expand the use of soybean alternatives to support circular feed systems.