Indirect entomophagy: Consumer willingness to pay toward fish fed with insect-based feed

The European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy outline the European Union's strategy to sustainably address growing global food demand. The European Commission's guidelines for sustainable aquaculture by 2030 emphasize the sector's crucial role in this goal, particularly by promoting the use of alternative raw materials in aquafeeds to reduce reliance on fishmeal and help preserve wild fish stocks. Insects and their ability to recover nutrients from human and animal waste represent a circular alternative nutrient source that could be integrated into aquafeeds. Several obstacles still exist for adopting insect-based feeds in aquaculture, and one is represented by the consumer's acceptance, especially in Western societies. Since data regarding consumer acceptance of indirect entomophagy is still lacking, the idea of this study stems from the intention to contribute knowledge on this issue. A multivariate analysis method was used on a sample of 2426 consumers, and it allowed the identification of three groups of consumers. In general, consumers lack interest in the sustainability aspects of aquaculture production, and thus in the consumption of aquaculture productions fed with insect meal emerged, highlighting the lack of understanding of the relevance of shifting from the linear models to a circular economy approach in the aquaculture sector. The effect of information on the potential improvement of sustainability in the sector, and thus on the benefits of introducing insect meal, promoted an average 15% increase in each group to purchase these products. These results confirm the need to promote knowledge and information systems in Italy to build the so-called blue economy.