Scaling Up Insect-Based Products: Exploring Innovative Business Models for Sustainable Growth

By 2050, the global population is projected to reach 9.1 billion. It causes a notable challenge to food security due to the estimated 70% rise in food demand. This demand cannot be met by traditional agricultural and industrial practices. It points to sustainable sources for protein since traditional animal-based proteins are not environmentally friendly. Insects offer nutritional benefits, low environmental footprints, and more sustainability to meet protein demand. This research aims to explore scaling up insect-based products and its uncertainties through the lens of an innovative business model (BM). Through a literature review and an empirical study, this research aims to find out how uncertainties in insect-based companies impact their scaling-up process and which strategies they used by altering their BM to address these uncertainties. The findings underscore the pivotal role of these uncertainties as a constraint on the upscaling process and the benefits of innovating business models to reduce these uncertainties. It has been discovered that the main uncertainty for some companies was the EU regulation of insect-based production, following other uncertainties such as consumer perception, social acceptance, safety, logistics chain, and scaling up operations. However, business model innovation and adaptable strategies could help companies reduce these uncertainties.