Interview with Peter Bjerre Andersen, founder of Inusect
Tell us how you got involved in the edible insects world and why you decided to start the Inusect project
I have a big interest in entrepreneurship and innovation for products and services, I’m educated entrepreneur and design Manager.
All started when I was at innovation campus where we had to present an idea in 72 hours and a pitch for a board of different kind of leaders in Denmark. There was a team from Belgium and Nederland who have worked with insects, one of the friends had a farm and we presented a project based on edible insects. The first idea was to run a restaurant but in those 72 hours we had other big ideas about the use of insects in aquaculture or to change some agricoltural productions.
I worked with different kind of projects with insects, I made foods, feed and pet food. So after about four years working with insects, I started my company to produce pet food.
What products are you marketing at the moment?
At the moment we sell dog food made with our own recipe. You cannot just put meat and insects togheter, it’s not sufficient to make dogs like the product. We use insects because they are a superfood also for animals, and we know it: proteins, vitamins and minerals for the balanced daily intake.
Where do you get your insects (powder?) from?
We’ve got supplier from Nederland, Germany, Denmark and France.
How is the market in Denmark for this kind of products?
They people think this is a good idea, but insects-based products have still to to fight to get their market share.
Denmark is a country really open to innovations and not afraid to follow new ideas, so we think that edible insects will have a great future also in our country.
What do you think about human entomophagy?
I think it’s great! But it will be successful especially with products like flours (to make pasta and other products), sauces, drinks, soups and noodles rather than the whole insects. I don’t think insects have a chance if we propose them whole, we need to use them in smarter products…eating involves the sight!
