The Belgian paradox: Leading in insect research, lagging in production

Abstract Belgium has a strong reputation in insect research, yet this contrasts sharply with its relatively limited commercial insect production. This disparity underscores both the country’s promising capabilities and the hurdles it faces. Despite a solid base established by researchers and pilot projects, scaling up to industrial insect farming is still constrained by financial, regulatory, and market challenges. In the following, this situation will be explored further and potential future developments and strategies to bridge the gap between research and commercial application will be discussed.