Ento is a project by Aran Dasan, Jacky Chung, Jonathan Fraser and Julene Aguirre-Bielschowsky, who are a team working together on the Innovation Design Engineering joint Masters course at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College in London. Their goal is to make eating insects an enjoyable everyday reality.
They believe that there is a stigma associated with insects as being gross, which is why many people don’t consider eating them. With the ever-growing demand for food production, agricultural productivity cannot keep up, hence the need to resort to insects. Insects are high in protein, low in fat, cholesterol, and rich in nutrients like omega-3.
Thirty years ago, sushi was not appealing to Westerners, but has now become a popular favorite. Ento believes that changing the cultural perception is what is needed to encourage people to eat insects. Through education, and an appetizing appearance, Ento foresee this trend to grow within the next ten to twenty years. They believe that insects will be found in supermarkets, next to the produce section.
What's Driving This Trend
- Changing Perceptions
- Disruptive innovation opportunities lie in altering the cultural perception of insects as food, similar to the success of sushi in Western culture.
- Alternative Protein Sources
- The growing demand for food production and the need for sustainable protein sources present disruptive innovation opportunities in the insect-based food industry.
- Appetizing Presentation
- Creating visually appealing and appetizing insect-based food products can drive the adoption of entomophagy as a culinary trend, opening up disruptive innovation opportunities for innovative food companies.
Who This Affects Most
- Food and Beverage
- The food and beverage industry can explore disruptive innovation opportunities by incorporating insect-based products into their offerings and marketing them as sustainable protein sources.
- Agriculture
- Developing insect farming techniques and integrating them into agricultural practices can revolutionize the agriculture industry and provide disruptive innovation opportunities for sustainable food production.
- Education and Awareness
- Creating educational initiatives and awareness campaigns about the nutritional benefits and sustainability of insect consumption can create disruptive innovation opportunities in the field of education and public health.
