Start-up firm Bugfoundation, established in Osnabrück (Germany) in 2014, focuses on the development and production of insect-based foods. The company is one of the first to sell insect-based products in the Netherlands and Belgium and has launched the Bux Burger in both countries. The Bux Burger is made from 43 percent buffalo worms and created by start-up entrepreneurs Baris Özel and Max Krämer. It is claimed to be proof of the great potential that these products have.  

Restaurants, catering firms and small supermarkets have begun selling this unique product in Brussels, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, Eindhoven, The Hague and Maastricht.

The company has been able to profit from collaboration while participating in an innovation project with Interreg VA, which has been operating successfully since 2015. Its goal is to promote cooperation between companies and research institutes in Germany and the Netherlands. It has already provided numerous firms with the opportunity to advance new technologies and innovations.

Insect consumption can play a valuable role in public health, due to the high levels of protein, vitamins and minerals that they contain. Highly efficient breeding and production methods guarantee a sustainable value-added chain. Insect products are a good alternative to conventional animal-derived products. Around 30 percent of the global population regularly eats insects as part of their diet. 

The products have yet to find a great deal of acceptance in North-Western Europe, however. This is why Bugfoundation is using FOOD2020 as a platform to clear up any doubts that consumers may have, by addressing them directly; with successful results. 

FOOD2020 helped to open up a European market thats tough to crack, creating the first generation of hugely promising insect products. The Bux Burger will become part of the Dutch Metro product range this year. Other countries in Europe could soon follow, as the EU is currently checking on whether a directive can be implemented to this effect. The innovation project for insect-based products is just one example of how FOOD2020 intends to get the food sector ready for future challenges in the German-Dutch border region.

Bugfoundation isnt the only company producing food containing insects – the Zürich start-up Essento is in the same business field. This company began marketing its products through the Swiss Coop supermarket chain at almost the same time. Last month, journalist            reported on new insect burgers from Essento made their debut in Coop supermarket branches in Switzerland. 

FOOD2020 will be held as part of the INTERREG Programme Germany-Holland, co-financed by the European unio, the Ministry of the Economy, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy North Rhine-Westphalia, the Lower Saxony State Chancellery, the Dutch Ministry of the Economy, as well as the Dutch provinces of Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North Brabant and Overijssel.