Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
More food firms add bugs to their recipes
Bread containing insect-based ingredients / Korea Times file
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Major local food firms are registering edible insects as key product trademarks with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, in a move to utilize the cost-efficient protein source for profit. Insects produce high-quality proteins with less feed and water needed compared to other livestock such as cattle, pigs and chickens.
Lotte Wellfood, Shinsegae Food and CJ CheilJedang have registered trademarks for food products using insects as ingredients.
The Lotte affiliate's Baro On description says it contains “processed bugs.”
It invested 1 billion won ($766,224) last year in Aspire Food Group, a Canadian food insect firm.
The two said they will build the world's largest insect protein manufacturing facility, as strengthened by technology partnerships.
Lotte R&D Center signed a letter of intent (LOI) with French insect protein startup Ynsect in November 2021 to develop products and advance technologies and research work to develop edible insect proteins.
Macarons containing insect-based ingredients / Korea Times file
Shinsegae Food registered four brands this year. Last month, it trademarked the phrase “You are what you eat.”
Under the brand, “processed bugs” are used in the production of liquor, beverages, seafood and grain foods.
Shinsegae Food has reoriented its product portfolio to include edible insects.
Since March, Protein King and other protein supplements have been registered with a description that they “use insects as ingredients.”
CJ CheilJedang signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Edible Insect Laboratory (KEIL) in 2016 to develop insect-sourced products and has since registered two trademarks.
“Currently, edible insects are used mainly as pet food, but they are expected to become a major source of protein for people in about 10 years,” a CJ official said.
Insects require less heat to maintain their body temperature, and they need only 1.7 kilograms of feed to produce 1 kilograms of protein. This is why they are considered a much more cost-efficient alternative for food manufacturers.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs showed the sales of the local bug farming industry came to 44.6 billion won in 2021, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier.
The global bug-related market is expected to grow to over 2.4 trillion won in 2024, more than double from 1 trillion won in 2019.
Propelling the rapid growth is interest in the industry's low environmental impact compared to livestock farming. Bug farming produces only one-seventh the greenhouse gases of cattle, pig and chicken farms.