Life In The World’s Breadbasket: Antoine Hubert Of YNSECT On 5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career In The Farming and Agriculture Industries

An Interview With Martita Mestey

Propose a low-impact solution: over the last few years, society has become increasingly aware of agriculture’s impact on our planet in terms of climate and biodiversity loss. The pressure is therefore on to find solutions to help make our food systems more sustainable, resilient, while remaining healthy and abundant. If you can offer this, the world will have to listen.

The war in Ukraine and catastrophic climate events have caused a global food crisis. This has highlighted the central role that the farming and agricultural industries play in sustaining society as we know it. In particular, it has highlighted the US Agricultural industry, and its role as the “Breadbasket of The World.” So what does it take to create a successful career for someone looking to enter the farming or agriculture industries? In this interview series, we are talking to leaders or principals in the farming and Ag industries who can talk about the future of modern farming and what it takes to create a successful career in the farming and agriculture industries. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Antoine Hubert.

Antoine Hubert is an agricultural engineer graduated from AgroCampus-Ouest and AgroParisTech. He is co-founder, President and CEO of Ÿnsect, a world leader in the natural production of insect proteins and fertilizers, and a B-Corp certified and a Next40 company.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I have always been passionate about insects. As a child, I spent a lot of time chasing butterflies so I could observe them. As I grew up, I became interested in the exceptional properties of the insects that surround us. First, I am a scientist: I am an agricultural engineer graduated from AgroCampus-Ouest and AgroParisTech. I have followed many projects in which insects were at the very center, such as the recycling and valorization of biomass and plastic. I also co-founded with Alexis Angot, one of Ÿnsect co-founder, the association Worgamic and the company OrgaNeo to raise awareness of insects and their properties in our daily lives. Then, still convinced of the power of insects, I co-founded with Alexis Angot, Fabrice Berro and Jean-Gabriel Levon Ÿnsect, with the objective of feeding the planet without destroying it.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

In eleven years, we’ve had all kinds of stories happen to us, but one of the most memorable was when we got Robert Downey Jr. to be one of our shareholders. It’s pretty exciting to have a superhero on your side.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Since the creation of Ÿnsect in 2011, we have come a long way and have experienced all kinds of stages: difficult moments and moments of joy. To get through and continue this adventure, I would say that the three most important traits are humility, conviction and patience.

• Humility because even if we have succeeded in becoming the leaders in the production of insect-based ingredients, we must remain humble in the face of our successes in order to continue to work and succeed in progressing. We still have a long way to go.
• Conviction, because to create a new industry, you have to believe in it. To succeed in changing legislation and mentalities, we must believe in it. You must be convinced of the validity of your work and your company’s mission in order to make progress.
• Patience because it takes time to build a company and more broadly, to participate in the creation of a new industry; because it takes time to change legislation and mentalities.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I would say “surround yourself with the right people”. Whether in private or in the workplace, it is essential to be surrounded by people who will be able to pull you up, give you advice and support. At Ÿnsect, for example, this was one of the most important aspects of recruiting employees: knowing how to recruit the best, remaining humble so that together, we can achieve our goals.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the farming industry. The idea of farming has a very romantic and idyllic character to it, especially to some people living in a busy cosmopolitan context. Do you think now would be a good time for younger people with no farming history to get involved in the farming industry? Can you explain what you mean?

When my co-founders and I embarked on this adventure, neither of us had a farming background. We just had an idea: to raise insects to feed the planet while helping to preserve it. And from this idea, we succeeded in launching ourselves in this sector: because we surrounded ourselves with people who had expertise in this field, because we managed to find financial and research partners to accompany us in our launch. But also and above all, because we were convinced of the validity of our project and of its future capacity to provide a real solution to the major issues of our time. It is never too early or too late to engage in similar projects. Today, environmental and food issues can no longer be ignored. Scientists around the world are sounding the alarm and encouraging us to change our systems to be more respectful and sustainable. All project leaders, regardless of their training or background, can participate in revolutionizing our systems and should be encouraged to do so.

Where should a young person start if they would like to “get into” farming?

To start farming, the first step is certainly to define your project: what kind, how, where, why. Then, to surround yourself with people who will help you get started.

With greater attention being placed on the importance of the farming and Ag industries, what do you predict will be different about the farming and Ag sectors, over the next ten years?

I believe that technology and impact will be central to the agriculture of tomorrow. Indeed, I am convinced that in order to meet the major challenges of our time: the climate crisis and the food crisis, it is necessary to put impact back at the center of each activity. In the agricultural sector, this means rethinking space, short circuits, water and energy consumption, etc. And this is where technology can help the farmers of today and tomorrow. There are already many solutions to help farmers and breeders optimize resources. I think this will continue to develop.

I’m very passionate about trying to help minorities to become more engaged in gardening and urban farming. What do you think can be done to engage more minorities and people of color in the farming and Ag industries?

It’s difficult to change these kinds of deep-seated patterns without governmental intervention. National authorities should make agriculture more attractive to the minorities by offering grants, aid, etc.

Agtech is also a great way to get minorities more involved in agriculture. Since we operate a completely different model, and carry none of the risk associated with traditional agriculture (when you’re an Ynsect employee for example) working in agtech is a very interesting industry for lots of different people.

We all know that inflation is affecting so many parts of our lives. How does inflation affect farms? What steps have you taken to keep costs down?

All farms are expensive to run. While our vertical farms at Ynsect are a lot less resource intensive than traditional agricultural farms, with our products using 40x less water than pork, 28x less land, and 40x fewer CO2 emissions, our energy and water bills remain high. Although are processes are already as efficient as possible, we are doing our best to optimize resource usage wherever possible.

Our feedstock — the wheat bran coproducts we use to feed our insects — is also currently subject to a volatile raw materials market. We work with local producers that are no more than 5km away from our farms to try and keep costs down.

Here is the main question of our interview. Can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career In The Farming and Agriculture Industries”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

Propose a low-impact solution: over the last few years, society has become increasingly aware of agriculture’s impact on our planet in terms of climate and biodiversity loss. The pressure is therefore on to find solutions to help make our food systems more sustainable, resilient, while remaining healthy and abundant. If you can offer this, the world will have to listen.

Prioritize investment: agriculture is a resource-heavy project, often industrial in nature. Even though we might not be passionate about finance, you will have to network, pitch, and get your agricultural project funded. Investment is fundamental to bringing about real impact — plus, you’ll gain access to precious expertise. At Ynsect, we have raised $500M USD to date, which has enabled the construction of the world’s largest vertical farm in Amiens, France.

Make legislation your friend: if you’re trying to do something positive within our food systems, the chances are it will involve getting to know legislation. Agriculture is very heavily bound by regulations, and trying to innovate or change how things are done can take time, patience, and attention to detail. That said, it’s possible! This year, Ynsect received EU approval of our insect ingredients for human consumption, enabling us to really start scaling our impact in this sector next year.

Optimize your business model: as I said in point two, agriculture, especially the projects being born these days, are often industrial in nature: you need to set up infrastructure, technology, logistics, etc. When executed in silos, installing all of this every time can be very complicated, time-consuming, and costly. Strategic partnerships, such as joint ventures, can therefore be very useful in building an asset-light model that can achieve impact quickly. Our latest projects in the US and Mexico, for example, will be undertaken with local partners Ardent Mills and Corporativo Kosmos respectively in order to leverage their access to and understanding of the market, supply chains, etc.

Have a team that are better than you: this is the case with any business, and one that was key to my success at Ynsect. You have to be humble enough to hire people that know more than you in certain areas, as you can’t be an expert in everything. You have to be comfortable and secure enough to trust, defer, and rely on them.

You are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Unsurprisingly, it would be an insect movement: one in which people appreciate all insects have to offer, from their nutritional profile, upcycling and waste process capacities, and even importance for biodiversity. If we filled the potential of insects at 100%, the world would be a much healthier, sustainable, and thriving place.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

To follow the Ÿnsect adventure, you can join us on social media (we are active on all platforms) and browse our website.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.