Are early adopters willing to accept frozen, ready‐to‐cook mealworms as a food source?

Abstract

Literature suggests that edible insects are most likely to be accepted when they are presented in the nonvisible form, but is it the only way? This research examines the acceptability of whole, ready-to-cook mealworms among early adopters. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed without restriction via email, social media (Facebook) and in-person referrals. Participants were assigned to predetermined clusters based on their willingness to adopt insects (n = 85 No-thank-you's, n = 85 Hideaways, n = 53 Daredevils, and n = 78 Peekaboo's), sent a follow-up questionnaire which presented a video of frozen, ready-to-cook mealworms cooking, and asked their willingness to buy the product. Analysis of variance, Tukey's means comparisons, and principal component analysis maps were used to analyze the data.Early adopters (Daredevils-53% and Peekaboo's-38%), motivated by the novel experience and ease of preparation, would consume frozen, ready-to-cook mealworms in a stir-fry, with vegetables, in a taco/burrito, or with rice. Practical ApplicationsThis work demonstrates the value of segmentation of consumers. By narrowing the target audience, this work suggests that frozen, ready-to-cook mealworms may be a viable product form for a niche segment of consumers. The adoption of mealworms in this form may be beneficial for entomophagy as a whole by increasing exposure and familiarity of insects as a food source. Potential benefits of this research include future product development and consumer evaluation opportunities to help better understand how to develop a product that consumers are willing to purchase in use as a substitute for traditional livestock proteins. Incremental shifts to purchasing edible insects in place of traditional livestock protein will have a positive sustainable impact on the food supply. | INTRODUCTIONBy 2050, livestock may exceed safe operating space estimates in regards to climate change, reactive nitrogen mobilization, and appropriation of plant biomass (Pelletier & Tyedmers, 2010). Currently, 50% of habitable land is used for agriculture, and 77% of that land is used for livestock production (Ritchie & Roser, 2020), while 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gases are related to world livestock production (Steinfeld et al., 2006), despite livestock only accounting for 18% of the world's calories and 37% of protein (Poore & Nemecek, 2018).The human population is predicted to reach nine billion people by 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2019), increasing demand for food and putting a strain on natural resources and the food supply. In 2013, a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations suggested that insects may play an important role in increasing food

The Crick-Eatery: A Novel Approach to Evaluate Cricket (Acheta domesticus) Powder Replacement in Food Products through Product Eating Experience and Emotional Response

“…The set of questions included questions that evaluated the participants’ beliefs about consuming insects, lifestyle, and purchasing of food on a 5-point agreement scale (1 = Disagree completely; 5 = Agree completely), and liking of products containing nonvisible insects on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Dislike very much; 5 = Like very much). Previous research using this set of questions was conducted through online surveys that evaluated the concept of insects as food [ 46 , 47 ]. Therefore, this study wanted to evaluate consumers who were willing to consume insect-based products in person.…”

“…One strategy may be to identify early adopters, the first group of consumers who gain interest and accept a new product [ 44 , 45 ]. Once accepted by this group, widespread adoption may occur within the market [ 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. Another way may be to inform consumers of the sustainable benefits of consuming insects.…”

Sensory Perception Nudge: Insect-Based Food Consumer Behavior

“…Regarding insect-based food [40], the preparation should make the insect invisible [41]. Individuals preferred adult insects [42].…”

“…The presentation of the shape is important [8,9,42] because it influences the decision to try new food products. The insect should not be seen [40,41]. There is reluctance when people know that the product contains insects, even though it looks good [9].…”

Is Generation Z Ready to Engage in Entomophagy? A Segmentation Analysis Study

“…Although behavior related to insect consumption has been studied and is steadily gaining interest, There is a lack of studies of studies that focus on generational cohorts and insect consumption behavior (from all perspectives). To our knowledge, seven studies exist [ 47 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ], one of which is a bachelor thesis [ 61 ], and one with only a single question about entomophagy [ 62 ].…”