Aquavermiponic Sdn Bhd Is an eco friendly company founded in Sarawak since 2017. Today, most countries are facing problems of lots of food waste been thrown away to landfill and create pollution to our environment. Aquavermiponic is focusing on how to turn Trash to Cash by insects. In return, they are giving us a cleaner environment and organic compost. Not only that, the insects are great protein alternative protein source for food and feed. The insects are going to Save the World, and Feed the World. 

Objectives:

To help the underprivileged families or individuals and womenpreneurs to work from home and get additional income for a better life by creating more working opportunity.
To teach more people on food waste recycling and how to make Trash to Cash.
To teach the younger generation on cleaner environment from home. 

Types of worms:

Superworms
Black Soldier Fly Larvae

Products:

The problems this product solve:

Food waste from going to landfill
Save cost on waste service
Cut down on plastics used
Reduce methane emission
Prevent ground contamination

How the products solve it:

The worms and insects play an important role in eating up all kind of food waste and agriculture waste and extend the life of landfill.
All farms can cut down cost on waste disposal issue by just raising the worms at the farms and gives them additional income. Not only that also cut down open burning during harvesting time and air pollution.
When there is less organic waste in our trash bins, the trash bins won't be filled up so quickly and in another way we are using less plastics to pack the organic waste and our trash bins wont smell as well.
Due to organic waste rots in landfills, it releases high levels of methane gas, which traps much more heat in the atmosphere than CO2. The waste from the agricultural industry, including poultry farms, aquaculture farms which are growing also produce lots of methane gas on the planet. So the worms prevent the waste from rotting in landfill as well as methane gas. 
Organic waste in the landfill often causes the most problems with soil and water contamination. Non-biodegradable products and chemicals leach contaminants into the degrading sludge from rotting organic material, which can soak into the earth and/or eventually pollute water sources.

Product features:

Alternative protein source in our food chain 
Substitute of fish meal and soy meal in feed industries
The worms are also rich in calcium, iron and other minerals
The worms produce high quality vermicompost for our mother earth
The worms also produce high quality lipid oil

Products use case:

Worms and insects are dried and grinded into powder to make breads, biscuits and burger patties
Worms are grinded and made into feed pallets for aquaculture, poultry and pet food
Worms are used in cosmetics, medical, health care products and can be supplements
Vermicompost are widely used in organic farms as it produce more, bigger, sweeter fruits and keep the plants from pest resistant.

Previous Milestones/ traction

The founder invested 3 years in insects R&D
MoU signed with local university for further R&D
Various awareness events and activities carried out to educate the public on food waste recycling
Invited to various kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities to give talk to the students about worms
Invited by NGOs like Rotary. Lub, churches for environmental & charity events
Joined NGO, Go Go Green Kuching committee in environmental projects
Invited by Sarawak Agriculture Department for exhibitions
Successfully launched fried worms snacks and got best selling in Kuching Food Fair 2017
Featured in various local newspapers
Interviewed by CityPlus FM and Red FM

Major Market Players:

Insects farming was increasing in some Europe countries, USA, Africa and Australia for the past 5 years. Below are the few leading world insects farming companies:

AgriProtein (South Africa- Black Soldier Fly Larvae)
Ynsect (France- Mealworms)
Enterra Feed (Canada- Black Soldier Fly Larvae)
Protix (Netherlands- Black Soldier Fly Larvae)
Next Protein (France-
EnviroFight (USA
Mad aagriculture (USA
Go Terra (Australia

Opportunities

Sustainability benefits. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) endorsed insects for their sustainability benefits, saying, “insects have a high food conversion rate, e.g. crickets need six times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and twice less than pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein.” Further, insects require very little land or energy to produce, and they can be produced quickly and all year round, unlike other feedstock such as soybeans. And finally, insects can serve as a protein-rich substitute for the wild-caught fish that are often used as aquaculture inputs, rendering aquaculture a sustainable solution to overfishing.

Demand for Protein. FAO estimates that commercial feed production will need to increase by 70% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for protein. BSFs are high in protein, making them highly attractive for various livestock production systems, and a possible alternative to the meat, fish, and soybean meal that currently comprise 60-70% of production costs. Developing sustainable aquaculture systems, in particular, is becoming increasingly critical as we look for healthy and affordable sources of protein: the World Bank estimates that by 2030 nearly two-thirds of seafood will be farm-raised. This is a huge opportunity for the IFF industry and makes aquaculture a target market for many IFF startups.

Beyond aquaculture. Though aquaculture is a promising beachhead market, research (and logic) suggests that other omnivores, such as chicken, cattle, and various household pets, could benefit from insect-derived feed. For example, research studies have shown insects have higher palatability with relative conversion/production rates and less consumption in chickens; and other studies indicate larvae enzymes may help improve feed conversion ratios in cattle. More broadly, other uses of insect-derived products are being explored, such as fertilizer and biofuels.

A profitable solution to food waste. 40% of food is wasted in the US, and globally food waste is a huge issue that’s increasingly attracting cross-sector attention, yet few economically viable solutions have emerged. Flies thrive on food waste, meaning the waste stream can become a low cost or even revenue-generating input to the feed industry. A promising example of the circular economy at work!

Robotics and automation. These technologies are rapidly penetrating the agriculture industry more broadly, and they’re no less applicable here. Ynsect, for example, is using robotics to help ensure consistency in their processes.

Target Market:

Aquaculture feed industries
Poultry feed industries
Pet food processing industries
Farms and plant nurseries
Landscaping industries

In agriculture, there is always an unexpected risk of we never know when new disease is coming. As far until today, we had never heard of any major disease outbreak in insects. In order to cope with any unforeseen circumstances, we had already worked closely with the local Universities for their advice. 

Second, will be the natural disaster. We are doing indoor farming to prevent any loss due to typhoon, storms or floods. Our worms farming site are situated at non flood area as well.