Introducing entomophagy (insect consumption), a common practice in many countries around the world, in Western countries is a great challenge. Aiming to expand the adoption of this novel food requires an understanding of consumer’s acceptability towards edible insects, ultimately feeding into regionalised marketing approaches. As entomophagy bears strong cultural ties, it was hypothesised that previously non-surveyed French Quebeckers (QC-FR; n=472) would exhibit knowledge, behaviours, and motivations similar to both their French European (EU-FR; n=97) ancestors and their modern day English North American (NA-EN; n=103) neighbours. In several instances, no differences between the three populations were observed: respondents’ prediction on the future growth of entomophagy, intent of non-consumers to try insects, willingness of consumers to repeat their experience, frequency of consumption, and quantities of insects consumed. However, QC-FR appeared more aligned with EU-FR concerning their knowledge of entomophagy, perception of its current status, and motivations for trying insects. Finally, QC-FR exhibit a distinction from NA-EN and EU-FR with their heightened attention to environmental or health motivations for consuming insects and a higher proportion of respondents with no prior insect consumption experience. The almost ubiquitous (96%) knowledge of entomophagy, widespread prior insect consumption experience (67%), and nearly generalised willingness to eat insects again amongst those who had already done so (90%) suggest that entomophagy has a very promising potential in the Western world. This is especially true amongst young environmentally conscious males, though product adoption lays challenges regarding appearance, culture, and texture, thus requiring targeted marketing approaches.

Despite secular consumption of insects in many regions of the world, this practice remains marginal in Western countries. Although entomophagy is slowly gaining mainstream visibility, it often triggers consumer acceptance only on a trial basis driven in part by adventurousness, environmental concerns, health benefits, food security issues, or a combination thereof. This paper draws from the consumer and ingestive behaviour literatures and from the growing entomophagy sphere of knowledge in order to surface possible tactics that could overcome consumer-level barriers and thus accelerate the adoption (and not only trial) of insects and promote its sustained consumption. We propose that more effective promotion of entomophagy may be achieved through acknowledgement and a deeper understanding of three separate, but mutually-influencing, families of factors that affect food choices and eating behaviours: (1) the foodstuff proper or a food’s attributes that satisfy established and evolving consumer preferences; (2) the foodie or a consumer’s characteristics including the degree of adventurousness and the relative importance given to various attributes and benefits of a product; and (3) the foodscape or characteristics of the food culture and environment including distribution and merchandising decisions that shape consumers food choices. Together, the assessment of these three factors allow for the better identification of promising strategies to reach a larger group of potential consumers and to promote the regular consumption of insects.

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As food supply practices must adapt to the reality of limited natural resources, alternative solutions must be found to meet the dietary needs of a growing world population. Edible insect consumption represents a sustainable substitute to that of conventional meat. Psychological barriers are largely responsible for dictating Westerners’ aversion towards insect eating. As adolescents have been less exposed to socio‐cultural constructs and as their food habits are less entrenched, they might express a greater openness towards edible insect products. This study aims to assess the impact of exposure and familiarisation with edible insects on adolescents' attitudes towards entomophagy. Between February 2018 and January 2020, 662 students aged 15–16 years from a Canadian high school engaged in a pedagogical insect farming project during which they had the chance to learn about insects as a sustainable foodstuff, while being familiarised with insect farming methods. Three different student cohorts took part in this project. The first and second had the opportunity to raise crickets and the third mealworms. Relying on surveys distributed before and after these 3 month projects, time‐based and type‐based analyses regarding students’ initial attitudes towards edible insects and their evolution over the course of these activities were performed. Results showed that the project greatly enhanced their acceptance towards edible insect consumption, suggesting that the speed and impact of peer influence amongst adolescents could be leveraged in promotional efforts to accelerate the adoption of edible insects.