2021 Ual:CSM Brief
An insect farm envisioned to make insect farming easy and convenient. BUGX empowers users to farm healthy and nutritious protein at home while reducing resource consumption and emissions.
Ideal for people sharing homes such as families. Its modular structure makes it adaptable to different users. BUGX is conceived to make having fresh insects accessible to people who don’t have spare time and space but still want to be able to farm their own insects.

01 The problem

Food scarcity & climate change in 2050

The earth’s population is set to be 9.8bn in 2050. To avoid further humanitarian and ecological disasters we have to change the way we eat. Both to ensure the food security of an increased world population and to reduce CO2 emissions from animal farming.

02 The solution

Insect consumption

BUGX provides people with the tools to grow sustainable protein in their own home!
Insects are a great non processed alternative to animal protein. They contain a similar nutritional value but consume less resources.

03 Research

How do you farm insects?

A complex endeavour.

Through interviews I learnt about the difficulties of insect farming. Insect farming can be very productive but you need to have expert knowledge to make it work. There is no ready made 'easy' kit. Most people use DIY farms and it takes years of experience to make it work.

Tiziana di Constanzo,
Co-founder of Horizon Insects

‘Farming insects is complicated, it requires a lot of knowledge and dedication'

'Different insects require specific & varying environments at each stage of their life cycle'

Laura Gritman,
Mealworm farmer in Florida

‘The system has to be very adapted to the insects to avoid common problems like mites and mould.‘

04 Design development

Designing for each insect’s needs

BSFL - Black Soldier Fly Larvae
This container has a self harvesting system that takes advantage of the flies’ life cycle. When they’re ready to pupate their instinct to look for a dark space makes them climb up the tube and into the harvesting box.

Mealworms
This container features an opening that helps easily harvesting the mealworms by pouring them out.

Crickets
This container has higher walls than the others to help avoid crickets jumping and escaping. It should be filled with egg cartons to give the crickets a comfortable environment.

05 User flow

How do you use BUGX?

1. Customer receives a package of mealworms!

2. Mealworms are placed in a free container.

3. Mealworms are hydrated with carrots and can be fed with most of our food waste.

4. Frass (insect faeces) is collected onto tray that can be easily washed. It can be used to as a fertilizer, perfect for growing your own veggies.

5. There’s an opening in the corner of the box to help harvest the mealworms.

6. This feature allows easily harvesting the mealworms without any mess.

7. Mealworms are placed in the fridge so that they are inmobilised and don’t try to escape when being washed.

8. Mealworms are washed.

9. Mealworms are gently killed by freezing them for 24h.

10. Mealworms can now be cooked! They are very tasty when fried with veggies!

11. Now it’s time to enjoy a tasty and nutritious meal!

Olga Peral

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BUGX