Toward Sustainable Nutrition: Star Food founder Wim Soetendaal‘s on mealworms as food
This article is part of a series of LinkedIn interviews by the Anders Invest Food & Agri team. Here, we take a look at the people and activities within our portfolio companies. In this interview, we talk to Wim Soetendaal, the founder and CEO of Star Food. Star Food cultivates various insects, originally for fishing and animal feed, but now also for human consumption. Star Food has a facility in Hungary where mealworms are cultivated and processed for use in food.
Early years and transition to human consumption
Wim Soetendaal started breeding worms for fishing in 1985, and two years later, mealworms, grasshoppers, and crickets were added. This led to the establishment of Star Food, a company specializing in insect cultivation for animal feed, but which is now also taking steps to make insects suitable for human consumption. In the beginning, Wim had to figure out a lot about insect breeding himself: "I observed a lot: what does an insect do, and why does it behave differently today than tomorrow? I made it my own and optimized it – I still enjoy doing this. Automating and developing the cultivation process is still my favorite thing to do."
The shift to human consumption is crucial, given the irreversible protein transition and the search for sustainable and healthy protein sources for both humans and animals. "Insects are one of the most sustainable protein sources available and are also healthy," says Wim. He further explains, "For example, you need much more land, feed, and water for a cow than for these insects. This way, we can breed more kilograms of insects per square meter than we can keep cows." Additionally, mealworms are nutritious and contain all the essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own.
Changing market
Wim observes rapid changes in the mealworm market: "The development is fast: just like with chickens, you started small in the past, and now you have mega farms. It's the same with insects; it has become more of a product and has thus been scaled up." The key for the future will be producing mealworms at the right cost and with good quality. The product must be consistent in nutritional value and contain enough protein.
It is also important to connect consumers to the product, with Wim noting that the fear of eating insects in the West is often psychological. The first step is to market mealworms as an ingredient rather than as a whole insect. This way, various types of food can be created, from burgers to shakes and sports drinks. An important addition that Wim emphasizes is the enrichment of protein: "The processing of mealworms is crucial. Originally, these insects have about 35% protein. Through processing, we enrich this to 80%, making it equivalent to existing protein sources like milk protein."
Legislation and future outlook
Regarding the processing of mealworms for human consumption, there are several hurdles to overcome, especially with regulations and the issuance of so-called Novel Food Dossiers. This process is slow and consumes a lot of money and time. As a result, producers and processors are hesitant to make large investments due to the risk of a dossier not being approved or legislation changing. Nevertheless, Star Food is making good progress for the future: "At our location in Hungary, mealworms are cultivated on a large scale, already about 15 tons per week. We are working to further improve these processes and explore possible collaborations," explains Wim. "It is certain that insects will play a significant role in food and feed." When asked if Wim expects to witness this himself, he confidently responds "Yes, for sure!"