Insect farming isn’t over. It’s finally grown up.
The story that “insect farming is over” confuses a few high‑profile missteps with the reality that is unfolding on the ground. The sector hasn’t died. But it has matured, and those businesses leading the way are circular by design, capital‑efficient, and run on real‑world data, not lab assumptions.
At Fairman Knight & Sons, we have spent the last two years building a model that works because it fixes three problems at once: food waste, feed security, and emissions.
Here’s what the evidence actually says.
Stop judging a 2025 industry with 2018 assumptions
Much of the commentary still leans on pilot‑era studies that predate commercial systems. They ignore controlled environments, energy recovery, and operational learning curves that only show up at scale. Industrial‑grade racks, people-managed husbandry, and modular commissioning all change the inputs and the outcomes. If your data source assumes feed‑grade inputs, long transports, and inefficient drying, you will, inevitably, conclude the wrong thing. Today’s circular, waste‑fed, short‑haul models no longer match those assumptions.
Circular economics, not wishful thinking
Our facility in South Lincolnshire sits inside the UK Food Valley and the South Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone. A spot primed to support the reduction of food waste. Arriving from within a local radius of 15 miles, food waste is upcycled into three revenue streams: protein, bio‑oil, and frass for soil health. This is not theory. It’s simple operations. Circularity is the business model, not a slide in a deck. When you design to overcome real challenges, you cut the biggest costs and the biggest emissions at the same time.
Capital discipline beats mega‑project bravado
Some previous European projects tried to jump straight to mega‑scale with mega‑CAPEX, hoping the unit economics would catch up. They didn’t. The lesson is simple: build inside proven economic boundaries, then scale. We did. Low CAPEX, modular rooms, measured ramp. Months to productive capacity, not years. That is the difference between a headline and a company.
Answering demand that already exists
As of 2024, UK supermarkets have aligned behind a change in legislation that sees the inclusion of insect protein in pig and poultry feed, as well as pet nutrition. Demand is real and growing. Then there’s the soil amendment market, which rewards quality and provenance; a market that a by-product of our operations supports. And domestic supply is still catching up, which is why a reliable UK producer matters. Shorter supply chains. Lower risk. Better data. Faster feedback loops.
Evidence over opinion: how we address the Ricardo narrative
Outdated data: We operate controlled, industrial systems that materially change energy and yield inputs versus pilot studies.
Skewed comparisons: Like‑for‑like boundaries matter. Short supply chains and optimised drying are not optional details; they move the dial.
Waste valorisation: Feeding a biological engine with real waste streams is the point. Ignore that and you miss the climate case entirely.
The ask is quite straightforward when it comes to defining if insect protein has had its moment: update the inputs, include working UK operators, and judge us on today’s numbers. When you do, the conclusion flips.
What “good” looks like:
Local by default: Contract waste within a tight radius; pair with green logistics and on‑site renewables.
Modular scale‑up: Commission production rooms in sequence, bank the learning, maintain uptime.
Science you can stand on: Entomology plus Farming at the core, clean environments, instrumented processes, and transparent reporting.
Multi‑product resilience: Protein, bio-oil, and frass and chitin all furnish real‑world demand and offer margins across multiple industries.
Not convinced? Here’s your invitation
Fairman Knight & Sons is happy to open our doors to policymakers and researchers who want to see a circular, commercial-scale insect operation working as designed. Use our site as a reference. Test our data. Bring the debate out of spreadsheets and into facilities that run effectively every day. If the UK wants resilient feed, lower waste, and credible climate gains, insect farming isn’t over. It is exactly what comes next.
