Evolving views on food are challenging traditional diets – and not just for humans. Innovative dining options are also added to the menus for our pets.

Startups have proposed countless new ways to satisfy their hunger. The British Bella and Dukefocuses on animals with a raw diet, for example, while Swedish Buddy Pet Foods serves natural dry food and Portuguese Barkyn personalizes their food.

If none of these tickle their taste buds, our furry friends can try a more avant-garde delicacy: insects.

It is cooked in the kitchen FlyFeed, an Estonia-based startup. The company has developed an automated breeding system that converts fly larvae into animal feed.

“It’s a challenge for humans, but a no-brainer for animals.

Arseniy Olkhovskiy, who founded FlyFeed in 2021, said the concept came from research into malnutrition. He concluded that insect farming can offer an affordable and sustainable solution for protein shortages. But he plans to feed animals before approaching humans.

“It’s a challenge in human food right now, because people don’t really want to eat anything that has to do with insects — but it’s a good idea in animal nutrition,” Olkhovskiy told TNW.

The 24-year-old rattles through a long list of benefits of raising insects: they get to eat reprocessed waste that would otherwise rot in landfills; they grow up to 100 times faster than conventional animal food sources; they are rich in high-quality nutrients; their production costs are minimal; and they require far fewer natural resources than traditional agriculture.

Olkhovskiy promises that they are also very tasty for pets. He says his own cat is a fan of the flavours.

FlyFeed is not the first startup to incorporate insects into pet food. Ÿnsec in France for more than ten years producing ingredients from mealworms Japie in the US processed protein from crickets. FlyFeed uses a different insect: black of soldier flies.

This species has several attractions. The larvae can convert organic waste into edible protein for animal consumption and fertilizer. They are also suitable for wet food, rich in various nutrients, do not transmit diseases and have a rapid growth.

The insects will be grown on agricultural residues in vertically stacked crates, which reportedly require 100 times less space than soybeans or livestock farming. The facility will also use data-driven climate control to optimize conditions and computer vision to monitor larval development.

Proteins from the farm are processed into edibles. FlyFeed plans to ship the first commercial batch of the product next year. Every year, the company wants to convert 40,000 tons of waste into 17,500 tons of insect products. The output is divided between proteins, fats and fertilizers.

If all goes well, the early harvests will be a springboard to human consumption.

“First we have to scale it,” Olkhovskiy said. “We need to make it cheaper, we need to make it standardized quality, and we also need to get it to markets where people really need it.”

According to Olkhovskiy, other insect farming startups are struggling to sell their food to people. He has chosen to focus instead on the operational and technological challenges. Once they are overcome, Olkhovskiy plans to distribute the products in countries where malnutrition is most critical. He expects to stimulate adoption through a low price. While a kilo of protein from cheap broilers costs $4, a kilo of FlyFeed protein costs less than $2, he says.

In Europe, however, the low prices are not yet creating demand. aaccording to a 2020 EU report, only 10% of Europeans are willing to trade meat for insects.

However, there are signs that attitudes could change. A study published last December found that people were more open to eating insects after hearing about the environmental benefits.

Regulators are also beginning to embrace the possibilities. In January, the EU approved the sale of house crickets and larvae for human consumption.

Still, it seems unlikely that we will all be eating flies in the foreseeable future. But maybe our pets can convince us to give them a try.