Insect meal in aquaculture: what Italian consumers think about it?

The Green Deal and its pillars underline a strategic vision for sustainable aquaculture production in the future. Italy's 2021 aquaculture production reached 146K tonnes, valued at 547 million euros, prompting a shift toward circular and sustainable practices, notably embracing insect meal in fish diets. Studies highlight its benefits (Busti et al., 2023; Sogari 2023), offering a path to more eco-friendly models. However, farm capacity alone may fall short, necessitating collaborative efforts along the value chain. Consumer acceptance proves pivotal, with varied perceptions impacting insect meal adoption in fish farming. Understanding consumer preferences, sustainability, price, and information dissemination are key factors influencing acceptance (Mancuso et al., 2016; Popoff et al., 2017; Llagostera et al., 2019; Bazoche and Poret, 2020; Rumbos et al., 2021; Arru et al., 2022). This study aims to analyse the perspectives of Italian consumers of fish products fed with insect meal. The improved understanding of their perceptions was made possible using multivariate statistical analysis. In addition, the study analyses the role of information on the acceptance of the innovative feeding practice and the willingness of Italian consumers to spend more on fish products raised with insect meal. The study can offer insights for academics, practitioners, and policy makers. Bibliography • Arru, B., Furesi, R., Pulina, P., & Madau, F. A. (2022). Price sensitivity of fish fed with insect meal: An analysis on Italian consumers. Sustainability, 14(11), 6657. • Bazoche, P., & Poret, S. (2021). Acceptability of insects in animal feed: A survey of French consumers. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 20(2), 251-270. • Busti, S., et al. "Effect of different inclusion levels of defatted Hermetia illucens larvae meal on fillet quality of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)." Journal of Insects as Food and Feed1.aop (2023): 1-15. • Mancuso, T., Baldi, L., & Gasco, L. (2016). An empirical study on consumer acceptance of farmed fish fed on insect meals: The Italian case. Aquaculture international, 24, 1489- 1507. • Llagostera, P. F., Kallas, Z., Reig, L., & De Gea, D. A. (2019). The use of insect meal as a sustainable feeding alternative in aquaculture: Current situation, Spanish consumers’ perceptions and willingness to pay. Journal of Cleaner Production, 229, 10-21. • Popoff, M., MacLeod, M., & Leschen, W. (2017). Attitudes towards the use of insect-derived materials in Scottish salmon feeds. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 3(2), 131-138. • Rumbos, C. I., Mente, E., Karapanagiotidis, I. T., Vlontzos, G., & Athanassiou, C. G. (2021). Insect-based feed ingredients for aquaculture: A case study for their acceptance in Greece. Insects, 12(7), 586. • Sogari, G., Oddon, S. B., Gasco, L., van Huis, A., Spranghers, T., & Mancini, S. (2023). Recent advances in insect-based feeds: from animal farming to the acceptance of consumers and stakeholders. animal, 100904