Insectum positions itself as Denmark’s last insect producer after industry shake-up

DENMARK – Denmark’s once-promising industrial insect sector has narrowed to a single surviving player after the recent bankruptcy of Enorm Biofactory, leaving Insectum as the country’s last operational insect producer, and positioning it to shape the future of a technology increasingly tied to global food security, waste management, and rural jobs.

Enorm’s collapse, with a deficit of 582 million kroner (about US$83 million), follows the earlier 2022 failure of Nordjyske Entomass. Both companies pursued large-scale facilities built around thousands of stacked boxes of black soldier fly larvae. 

Insectum, by contrast, has from its inception developed a fundamentally different system: a patented, modular, container-based production method designed to be low-cost, simple to operate, and rapidly scalable.

At the heart of this approach are 40-foot “towers”, two containers stacked vertically and connected to a feed plant similar to wet-feeding systems used in pig production. 

These plug-and-play units can be mass-produced, transported, and installed without the concrete-heavy infrastructure typical of industrial insect factories. 

According to Insectum, the model can cut establishment costs by up to 70 percent, an advantage that director David Munk-Bogballe says has been central to the company’s global outlook. 

“Instead of thousands of small boxes that require buildings, complicated handling, micro-dosing, advanced controls, and robotic systems, our technology makes it possible to use entire 40-foot containers as units,” he says.

Researchers say cost reduction and operational simplicity are precisely what the sector needs to succeed internationally. Jan Værum Nørgaard of Aarhus University notes that black soldier fly larvae are already proven as a feed source for poultry, pigs, and aquaculture. 

“If the insect industry is to succeed, it requires solutions that are technically simple and economically realistic,” he says, adding that insect-based recycling of organic waste is particularly relevant for developing countries where protein shortages persist.

That scientific grounding has helped Denmark maintain a strong knowledge base that Insectum now hopes to leverage globally through a franchise-style rollout. 

Supported by legal firm Bech-Bruun, the company plans to partner with local investors who will own and operate facilities while Insectum provides the technology, training, and operational structure.

The model has already attracted Danish investor and farmer Michael Bundgaard, who is backing the company’s first major international plant in Uganda. 

The 2.5 million-euro (about US$2.7 million) facility is expected to produce 1,500 tonnes of larvae annually and recycle roughly 5,500 tonnes of organic waste. 

“I can see that they have grasped something very simple and very right,” Bundgaard says. “The system is robust and so logical from a farmer’s perspective that you can operate a plant yourself.”

Insectum’s chairman, Kristian Scheef Madsen, says investor interest will be essential as the company scales its patented technology across regions facing mounting waste and protein pressures. 

With a pipeline of potential projects and payback periods “typically under three years,” he says, the company is now actively seeking new partners as it expands into global markets.

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