North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture

What North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture does

NACIA (North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture) is a private, non-profit 501(c)(6) industry association founded in 2016 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Originally established as the North American Edible Insect Coalition (NAEIC) at the Eating Insects Detroit Conference, it rebranded to NACIA as the industry expanded beyond human food into animal feed, soil health, and biomaterials. The organization operates as the leading unified voice for the insects-for-food-and-feed industry in North America, serving insect producers (e.g., EnviroFlight, Chapul Farms, Entosystem, Fluker Farms, InnovaFeed, Protix, Planet Bugs, Soldier Fly Technologies, Amera Biotech), downstream buyers such as Tyson Foods, allied industry suppliers (Bühler, Phileo/Lesaffre), academic researchers, and policymakers.

NACIA's core products and intellectual assets are member-authored standards and research resources rather than software or hardware products. Its flagship deliverables include the "Best Practices for Commercial Insect Production" guide, the NACIA Foundation's Frass Research Library, an industry Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standards framework, and The Frass Institute — an initiative focused on science-based research to define best practices for insect frass as a circular soil amendment. A quarterly newsletter from the NACIA Foundation is scheduled to launch July 1, 2025. The underlying technology footprint is conventional association tooling: a Squarespace website, Mailchimp email, Slack-based member collaboration, and LinkedIn thought-leadership content.

NACIA's revenue model is membership-fee based, with tiered categories (industry, allied industry, academic/non-profit, student) generating recurring subscription revenue. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is regional (North America, primarily USA) and delivered through direct member engagement, events such as the hybrid Annual General Meeting, and digital channels. The organization is led by Executive Director Aaron Hobbs and governed by a Board of Directors with seats held by representatives of member companies, and operates the NACIA Foundation as an affiliated research arm.

Name

North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture

Legal name

North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture

Website

https://nacia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NACIA is a North American non-profit industry association (founded 2016) that advocates for insect agriculture across food, feed, and soil-health applications. It serves insect producers, feed manufacturers, researchers, and policymakers through membership dues, industry standards, and research initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: NACIA generates revenue through membership fees from industry members, allied industry members, academic/non-profit members, and student members. Members gain access to regulatory advocacy, industry coordination, shared resources, and meaningful connections across the food, feed, and fertilizer sectors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NACIA is a non-profit membership-based industry association that advocates for the insects-for-food-and-feed sector in North America. It delivers membership access, collective regulatory advocacy, and industry-developed knowledge assets such as the Best Practices for Commercial Insect Production resource, plus science-based research through the NACIA Foundation and The Frass Institute.

Product overview

NACIA (North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture) is a membership-based industry association, not a software product company. Its offerings consist of a membership program (NACIA Membership) providing access to regulatory advocacy, industry coordination, shared resources, and peer connections; a published industry resource called 'Best Practices for Commercial Insect Production'; the NACIA Foundation (a research and education arm focused on frass and sustainability); and The Frass Institute (an initiative dedicated to science-based research on insect frass). These offerings are coordinated under the unified mission of advancing insects as a sustainable solution for food and feed across North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NACIA Membership Membership program providing access to regulatory advocacy, industry coordination, shared resources, and peer connections across the food, feed, and fertilizer sectors in North America.
• Best Practices for Commercial Insect Production A foundational industry resource developed by NACIA to support safe, sustainable, and credible growth of insect agriculture in North America, reflecting collective member expertise.
• NACIA Foundation Research and education arm of NACIA focused on scientific research for insect agriculture, including the science-based Frass Research Library and Life Cycle Assessment standards development.
• The Frass Institute A NACIA-led initiative that conducts independent, science-based research to define best practices and accelerate adoption of insect frass as a circular soil amendment.

Quantifiable outcome

• AAFCO has approved insect proteins and oils for poultry, swine, aquaculture, and pets—creating market confidence and consumer trust
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BühlerminorOthers · 4 November 2025Bühler Minneapolis serves as the venue host for NACIA's 2025 Annual General Meeting on November 4, 2025, held at 13105 12th Avenue North, Plymouth, MN. Bühler is an allied industry member of NACIA.
• The Frass InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Frass Institute is a NACIA initiative that leads independent, science-based research to define best practices and accelerate adoption of insect frass as a circular soil amendment. NACIA and The Frass Institute collaborate on frass research, education, and industry standards development.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Animal Agriculture Alliance: US non-profit that advocates for and monitors the entire animal agriculture sector. Shares NACIA's non-profit coalition structure and stakeholder-engagement mission, with broader scope across livestock species and supply chain.
• Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems: Representative of broader sustainability-focused agricultural coalitions that compete for philanthropic, policy, and corporate-member mindshare. Relevant context as adjacent coalitions shaping the same regulatory and ESG narratives NACIA is positioning within.
• BioCycle / SCRIBD Insect Protein Working Group: Information and advocacy platforms serving the organics-recycling and circular-agriculture community adjacent to frass applications. Useful proxy for how frass-specific standards may need to be defended against competing adjacent industry voices.

Broad incumbents

• American Feed Industry Association (AFIA): The largest US trade association for the animal feed manufacturing industry. Operates with the same membership-association, regulatory-advocacy, and standards-development model as NACIA but at much greater scale and broader scope across all feed categories.
• Food Industry Association (FMI): The largest US trade association serving the food retail and wholesale industry. Comparable non-profit membership association model with policy advocacy, research, and industry events as core offerings, though at materially greater scale.
• North American Meat Institute: Long-established trade association for the meat and protein industry with a comparable advocacy, scientific research, and member-service operating model. Relevant as both a competing protein-industry voice and a reference for what NACIA could mature into at scale.
• Pet Food Institute: US trade association representing pet food manufacturers, one of NACIA's key end markets for insect protein. Comparable association model with regulatory advocacy, member services, and industry standards as core offerings.
• National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA): Major US trade association for grain, feed, and processing industries. Operates a similar regulatory-advocacy, member-services, and standards model at significantly larger scale; a logical 'what NACIA looks like at maturity' benchmark.

Direct peers

• International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF): The EU's counterpart trade association for the insect protein sector. Direct functional peer: membership-based advocacy body representing insect producers and the broader value chain, focused on EU regulatory engagement (EFSA, European Commission) — comparable mandate, comparable member base, different geography.

Regional players

• European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC): The European feed manufacturers' trade association. Comparable in mandate (feed industry advocacy and standards) and association structure but EU-focused; represents the broader feed ecosystem that insect protein companies must engage alongside IPIFF.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nacia
• Xx.com/NACIA_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture