Containing protein, vitamins and minerals

The world population is growing and resources are becoming scarce. An important contribution to food security could be breeding insects instead of cattle, pigs and poultry. Insects are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids. Insects also consume significantly less resources than their four-legged counterparts. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), producing one pound of beef consumes up to twelve times more feed than producing the equivalent amount of insects. Both water and land consumption are thus significantly reduced and CO2 emissions are also reduced a hundredfold.

Healthy, tasty and sustainable

These considerations prompted the founders of the start-up Bugfoundation to develop food from insects. Their burger should not only be healthy and tasty, but also suitable for mass consumption. Together with the German Institute of Nutrition, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and other partners, work was carried out on the optimal texture, smell and appearance. The result is the Bux Burger - 43% of which consists of Buffalo worms (alphitobius diaperinus) and various vegetarian ingredients. In order to relieve consumers of their fear of eating the extremely sustainable and healthy insects, communication and marketing strategy were also refined.

Ready for the market

In Belgium and the Netherlands, burgers have been available since 2015. According to an EU regulation, insects have been defined as food since 1 January 2018. Since then, burgers have also been on the refrigerated shelves of German food markets.