Ento Industries: Developing Sustainable Solutions for Food Waste Management Using Black Soldier Flies

In November 2024, Nathaniel Phua, Founder and CEO of Ento Industries, had successfully set up a black soldier fly farm. Ento utilised black soldier flies to valorise or upcycled food waste. The local food industry relied mainly on imports due to the lack of land for agriculture. However, as an affluent country, Singapore produced large amounts of food waste that would normally be incinerated. With new innovative processes, Phua aimed to promote a circular economy in Singapore.

Phua aspired to tackle waste management in a different way than Tiong Lam, Ento’s parent company, did. Tiong Lam handled food waste in a traditional manner, transforming dry food waste into fish feed. He had discovered that black soldier fly larvae could ingest all kinds of food waste and produce organic fertiliser. The larvae themselves could also be used as animal feed. He successfully set up a small black soldier fly farm to handle food waste. As a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), it was difficult to hire experienced workers, especially with a negligible agricultural industry in Singapore. Can Phua successfully scale up operations?

This case may be used for graduate, postgraduate and executive education classes. By the end of the class, students will be able to appreciate the importance of transitioning to a circular economy, examine if a company is a good corporate citizen, understand business model innovation and analyse how SMEs approach sustainability compared to MNCs.

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