Insects

Launching an Edible Insect Business, Part IV: Go-to-Market

We’ve assessed the potential market size and we’ve seen who’s currently in the market, along with their product lines. Next: based on everything we’ve found so far from our research, what’s our go-to-market strategy? Product-market fit In my previous article, I hypothesised that larger insects (likely crickets and/or locusts) would be a good product to sell, for three reasons: It is an unfulfilled niche - most insects sold in the UK are small. It could increase our price:weight ratio, making them more comparable with substitute products. Customers may prefer the more satisfying experience of eating a larger insect. Of course, when you have a hypothesis, what do you do? Systematically test to prove its validity!

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 | 7 minutes Read

Launching an Edible Insect Business, Part III: Product

Current products on the market Part II gave us an idea of the products are currently available in the UK market. We could categorise them thusly: Insect-based snacks Unflavoured roasted insects Insect-derived ingredients Insect-based snacks The snacks are insect-based substitutes for foods such as bags of crisps and bags of nuts. Generally they’re low-weight (<35g) and are single-portion. These seem to come in two forms, either flavoured insects by themselves (often crickets), or a more traditional mix of fruits/vegetables with a few insects thrown in (often mealworms).

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 | 5 minutes Read

Launching an Edible Insect Business, Part II: Competitors

In Part 1, I assessed the market for edible insects in the UK, and determined it has a lot of potential. In this post, Part II, I’ll look at who are the current market players. Finding the companies The first step is to get a list of companies. The most obvious method is to use a search engine. It’s good to use a variety of websites - Google, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia - and phrases - “edible insects uk”, “buy crickets uk”. Alongside providing companies to investigate further, it also shows who are the most popular - or at least have the best SEO.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 | 5 minutes Read

Launching an Edible Insect Business, Part I: Market

Along with energy and transport, I’ve always been interested in agriculture; growing up on a farm no doubt influenced that. In particular, entomophagy - eating insects - has always intrigued me. Aside from the (illogical) “yuck factor”, they’re nutritious, environmentally-friendly, and ethical. Cultures across the planet and throughout history have eaten insects. So why don’t we now? Your client is considering launching an edible insect brand in the UK. What do you suggest?

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | 5 minutes Read