mINc

Team information

Ana Tello
Bachelor , Panama

Svea Ites
Master , German

Artist Impression

Social Media Pitch

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Our vision

As a company, we seek to address the problem of malnutrition in non-developed and developed countries and exploit unused resources from earth by diminishing the intense exploitation of others. We begin our mission by supplying a highly nutritious, sustainable, and tasty bread spread to the world.

Our solution

Our main solution is to develop an insect-based bread spread from the mealworm species Tenebrio molitor, which outperforms most animal-based alternatives from an environmental perspective. It’s a unique product because it possesses a low environmental impact, great amino acid, and fat profile, it’s low carb and lactose-free! We foresee using residues from production to animal feed for now. Because of their high nutritional value, we want to create a new product for human consumption out of it in the future. Meaning a no-waste approach is pursued. Insects are our oldest allies, and the world ignores this powerful resource which addresses the world’s needs for sustainable, economic and nutritious foods.

Our market

At the beginning of the competition, we aimed to introduce an insect-based milk alternative to the Netherlands. Mainly as we saw great potential for the insect drink to reduce the environmental burdens associated with dairy production. During the challenge, we realized that we were not ready to introduce a pure (single ingredient) product to a market we don't know. Now we are focusing on the development of insect-based bread spreads for the German market. According to the latest declaration of EFSA on Tenebrio molitor larvae, we believe that the possibility of the market entry of an insect-based bread spreads could be smoother and sooner than expected.

About the team

Ana and Svea are both students of Food Production Engineering and Business with a range of knowledge from finances over food quality up to marketing, experienced in research project development, and various workshops. They come together through their passion for food and human welfare. Even though Svea focusses on nutrition and Ana more on food processing, both believe that sustainability is the key factor to meet their goals on a long term.