Manna Insect at IFW 2024
In June our insect farming specialists Ykä Marjanen and Saverio Danubio participated the Insects to Feed the World 2024 conference in Singapore. The Insects to Feed the World (IFW) conference is the premier conference for the insects in the feed and food sector. The 5th edition of IFW 2024, organized by the Asian Food and Feed Insect Association (AFFIA), took place in Singapore from 19th June to 22nd June. This international event brought together researchers and industry professionals from around the world to collaborate and to exchange ideas and the latest advancements in the field of insects for feed and food. The conference included an integrated exhibition, three days of parallel sessions, networking events and opportunities to tour Singapore’s world-class research facilities.
Altogether over 600 participants attended IFW 2024, including heads of industrial insect businesses, researchers, politicians and entrepreneurs committed to exploring innovative solutions for insects in food and feed sector. The participants had an unrivaled chance for discussions and knowledge exchange as well as collaboration opportunities.
Below a short summary of the event and learnings from it by our CEO Ykä Marjanen, originally the pictures and thoughts were shared by Ykä in LinkedIn.
Summary of IFW 2024
“We didn’t participate IFW 2022 or earlier, but talking to many veterans the mood has shifted definitely from academic interested to “making business”. Lots of conversations were about getting into realism on expected price levels, becoming profitable, and so on. Also many research presentations were much more concrete and helpful for direct commercial usage than earlier.”
“We are still lacking the ecosystem players and collaboration that is standard in other agrisectors. Most are still doing “everything” from biowaste to selling BSF meal, and even proprietary tech, which is not how other agrisectors work. However, we are seeing more openness and activity on collaboration and forming support ecosystems for insect farmers. But the good news is that we are going to right direction as become a mature business oriented industry, with less hyping.”
Updates and thoughts from along the IFW 2024
“Leo Wein dropped the mic on “value of BSF protein” presentation. A very much needed realism check for the value of BSF for the feed industry. Sustainability doesn’t equal premium price. It is all about functionality to price compared to fish and soy meal. Start from the assumption that no one pays you extra because it is BSF, insects or “sustainable”. Your crude protein value is on par with fish meal at max. If we want to “feed the world” we are competing with soy and fish meal. Or then we can do niche premium products, and not having a significant impact.”
“Great talk from Artur Kühl about planning and challenges of building BSF production. Nicely aligns with other talks about the subject.”
“We visited a hydrophonics farm on top of a hospital in Singapore. This is the future. Using Tilapia and soon BSFL as an engine to produce nutrients to plants and upcycling biowaste. All local and fresh.”
“This is my selection as a best poster of IFW 2024. Very clear and useful information about hatching time after eggs get laid.”
“We had lots of wonderful and honest discussions during the event. When we get together we are very sharing and supportive of each other.”
Looking forward to next editions of IFW
“I definitely recommend to join next IFW in Torino, Italy in 2026. Two years is a long time, so we are eager to update this summary after Torino IFW2026. Also I would like to see IFWx event in Africa for 2025. Africa has its own way of using BSF, and I think it will hugely significant on helping the continent becoming more independent on food production. The whole industry should go there and learn how BSF doesn’t really need that much tech around it to make an impact.”
Get to know Manna Insect’s climatization solution for small scale BSF farming and piloting!
For more information about the event, check out also the IFW 2024 homepage.