The edible insect market - Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

In many cultures around the world, insects are real foods eaten frequently during meals. The main insects eaten are beetles, grasshoppers, and worms. The nutritional value of insects is very similar to that of red meat; in fact, they are an important source of high-quality protein.In total there are 1,400 species of edible insects in the world and they are found mainly in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Depending on different food customs, insects are eaten live, fried or pan-fried accompanied by different sauces both sweet and savory.

As for the global market this in 2020 over $622 million and is estimated to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.47 percent between the year 2020 and 2026. This growth is driven in large part by the fact that insects are, unlike meat, highly sustainable because they do not need large areas of land to be cultivated and can be fed from organic waste thus solving the current problem of food waste.

In Italy, thanks to the legislative decree of May 18, 2021, Article 2135 of the Civil Code was amended making the cultivation of insects legal. As this amendment is very recent, the market for edible insects in Italy is not yet developed and flourishing. There are already some start-ups, such as Fucibo, whose goal is to revolutionize the food industry by introducing this food category, which is widely used abroad, into various food products. The strategy, unlike in other countries, is not to propose insects as a meal food but rather as a raw material for the creation of other foods such as pasta, chips or breadsticks and bread substitutes. This is due to the fact that Italians are very attached to their culinary traditions, so the approach toward this type of food must be thoughtful and gradual.