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The Fly Lady
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
If such quote were to be spoken by just anyone, it may come across as being aspirational at best, or clichéd at worst.
Not when it was uttered by Yanni Xinyan, the co-founder and chief commercial officer of Entomal Biotech Sdn. Bhd., at the end of our interview. Referred to as “the Fly Lady” in certain circles, Yanni exuded a jovial warmth, eager to share how her company has contributed to the sustainability agenda in Malaysia.
Entomal is a biotechnology company that uses insects to achieve a circular economy in Malaysia. Tech start-ups often get underestimated by the public, who are buyers of their products, or dismissed by investors, whose financial injection they look for.
But when a company has notable accolades under their belt, one immediately knows that the company truly means business. To date, Entomal has bagged many awards and acknowledgements, such as being named the Grand Winner of Petronas Future Tech 3.0 (the only winner from Malaysia) or one of the Global Top 50 Deep Tech Startup at Slingshot 2023, held in Singapore (beating out over 4700 other companies worldwide).
The team at stratsea.com spoke to Yanni in mid-May to discover more about Entomal. This piece is the result.
Maggots and Flies
Entomal’s story began against the backdrop of a grim reality. In Malaysia, over 17,000 tons of food waste gets dumped into landfills on daily basis. As a whole, gas emitted from this decaying, organic materials is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the world’s third largest contributor if it was a country, right behind the United States and China.
Managing organic waste is not as straightforward a task at it seems to be. There are existing technologies that can assist with composting, but these machines consume lots of energy (electricity) and, thus, would emit more carbon emission in the process.
All these constitute the main puzzle that Entomal tries to solve: how to process all this waste without increasing carbon emission at the same time. It is abundantly clear that whatever the solution is, it has to be natural, i.e., does not consume much energy.
Enter Hermetia illucens or black soldier fly (BSF), Entomal’s sustainable, organic solution to Malaysia’s mounting food waste problem.
Yanni believed in the “superpower” of BSF. In their larval phase (which lasts from a week to two), the insects consume a lot of organic materials to grow. The larvae grow fast and do not require special handling, making them an efficient economic resource to break down waste and attractive economically.
This also sets them apart from the housefly maggots, mealworms or the larvae of other insects which take longer to mature and have lower economic value downstream. Unlike them, BSF larvae are also high in protein with a similar nutritional profile to fishmeal, making it a great alternative to animal feed. With the high protein content, it can also provide high economic value if converted into edible food for pets and humans.
The magic does not stop there. Fully grown, BSF life purposes are simply to drink (sucking in moistures from air) and to mate. The flies do not have a “mouth” per se – they do not eat anymore because they have consumed enough food to last their entire life during larval stage. Hence, with the absence of a “mouth” and without eating, the flies do not carry pathogens the way houseflies do.
Entomal’s core tasks are simple. They only need to provide organic waste for the larvae to consume and create an optimum environment for the adult flies to mate and reproduce. No rocket science is involved, including genetic modification of the flies.
However, insects are insects – one naturally wonders if Entomal faces societal rejection simply because they employ insects, which some consider to be vectors of disease.
Surprisingly, Entomal has not encountered such displeasure before. Yanni claimed that during exhibitions, crowds are drawn to Entomal’s booth out of curiosity for the company’s out-of-the-box solution. She admitted that Entomal engages in a lot of educational and awareness activities to promote the solution, especially since curiosity does not necessarily translate into willingness to adopt Entomal’s solution. So far, however, consumers are open to its insect-based solution, while Entomal simply needs to demonstrate its economic value to businesses and investors.
Half-laughing, Yanni stated that the only major hesitation in people’s reaction is when they are asked to eat the larvae. Our editor Sham Ismail has tasted it – he said it tastes like dried shrimp.
High Economic Value The company’s solution manifests in the form of Entomal Mobile Bio-Conversion System (EMBC), shipping containers that house its BSF larvae and waste management technologies. This is where organic waste is fed to larvae, stored in what Yanni called “high-rise apartment for the larvae.” The larvae will completely consume the waste within a week, leaving behind frass (excrement) which can be converted into organic fertilizer.

EMBCs are currently available in several spots. Contrary to one’s guess, EMBCs are a more common find around business establishments rather than housing areas. Most of Entomal’s clients today are hotels such as Le Meridien and Hyatt, which understandably produce huge amount of organic waste daily. EMBCs can also be found on the grounds of Taylor’s University, Sunway Lagoon, the Shah Alam City Council, NGOs such as YWCA and schools, among others.
Yanni also teased about upcoming projects in northern Malaysia involving more hotels, in the Borneo part of Malaysia, as well as along the border of Malaysia and Singapore. With the amount of food waste produced every day, it seems that Entomal will never lack of any demand, provided they can penetrate the market.
But what happens to the grown larvae? This is also where Entomal’s circular economy comes into picture.
Some, indeed, are raised further to become adult flies, which will then mate and lay eggs. For the rest, Entomal has successfully conjured more magic, one that proves the company exists beyond the singular dimension of waste management.
Taking advantage of their high-protein content, dried larvae are mixed with other nutrition sources to become pet food. “Tera Diet” is Entomal’s product in this sector, labeled as ASEAN’s number one insect protein formula for cat food. Its products are advertised as beneficial for cats not only in terms of its nutrition, but also how they promote easy digestion and improve skin and hair health, all while reducing carbon footprint in the manufacturing process.
Tera Diet’s products are now available online, sold at affordable price.

The options are even more diverse for human consumption. While the dried larvae themselves are edible, Entomal has partnered with students of Taylor’s University to produce different types of food that cater to different tastebuds.
The first one is “Bugkwa” (a play on bak kwa, common Chinese snack), which traditional source of protein (meat) has been replaced with BSF larvae. Similarly, “Crave Salami Crisps” with nasi lemak flavor also source its protein from the larvae.
Both products only came about last year and are yet to be commercialized. Despite this, Entomal is keen to continue partnering with these bright and innovative students to empower the new era of alternative protein.

Certainly, there is an ample opportunity for Entomal to expand its FnB wing, and it seems they have only just begun to knock on the door that opens to various possibilities. A running gag on the Internet is that men, especially gym-goers, would eat anything that contains the word “protein”. We do not see why Entomal should not consider targeting the fitness industry next, especially if what they sell is protein.
I Want to Fly with You
Students of Taylor’s University are among the target of youth engagements that Entomal has undertaken so far. The company also actively visits schools and universities, often at the invitation of student’s organization there, to give a presentation about their solution. Speeches are delivered while exhibitions are shown, giving students opportunities to experience Entomal’s process themselves.
On a larger scale, Entomal has also partnerships with companies in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia Singapore and South Korea, all while eyeing for more opportunities for partnership. Yanni stated that Entomal is open to collaboration in the spheres of research and development as well as joint ventures, even as it is looking to scale up its BSF-based solution in Malaysia. Yanni believed there is a potential in China’s market, considering the colossal amount of waste produced there daily.
Yanni also did not seem too concerned about competition at this point. Entomal’s novel approach and unique business model keep it distant from other waste management and FnB companies. Others specialize only in either, unlike Entomal’s circular economy method. In Yanni’s own words, “we want to manage waste and then sell it (the output) back to Malaysia.”
Malaysia is obviously the cornerstone of Entomal’s operation due to various factors. Like some other countries in the region, Malaysia’s climate is friendly for BSF cultivation. The country also produces an abundance of food and agricultural waste, and, with Entomal’s technology, Yanni believed that her company can be a leading player in this industry, not only domestically but also regionally.
The challenge is to find the right timing, focus and investors to scale up.
As indicated above, Entomal engages in a lot of awareness campaigns to educate the public and potential investors of its values. To grow further, Entomal needs to find stakeholders that believe in its vision of circular economy and are willing to invest in this type of service.
Moreover, while Entomal continues to gain traction nation-wide (that lengthy list of awards on its website is a testament), there remains some uncertainty over licensing and land use for its business. Though the company has obtained support from Department of Veterinary Services to engage in waste management, it is still difficult to find a piece of land that has been designated for such activity.
For example, it cannot simply claim lands that have been flagged for agriculture because Entomal is not an agricultural company. The problem magnifies because the waste management sector remains small, thus limiting policy makers’ awareness of their potential, which in turn restricts opportunities for companies such as Entomal.
The onus is evidently on the government to acknowledge the full potential and value of Entomal. In the meantime, the company needs to engage in more awareness campaigns.
Turning Flies into Gold
Environmental sustainability may be Entomal’s core philosophy, but this does not stop the company from treating mountains of waste as gold mines. Entomal is, and never has been, a not-for-profit enterprise – it is a social enterprise that focus on generating revenue.
“We are a very ‘Chinamen’ company,” chuckled Yanni.
When capitalism is directed responsibly, what you get is enterprises such as Entomal. The company aims to become a full solution provider, solving Malaysia’s waste problem before adding value to its society.
Love of Malaysia was also palpable during our chat with Yanni. The Fly Lady obviously adored her country – she did not want to get hung up over the country’s ongoing problems, instead focusing her energy on avenues to help Malaysia and its people. She truly embraced the quote that opens this piece and seemed greatly inspired by Vaclav Smil’s How the World Really Works, a book about the impacts of climate crisis and food waste.
It appears that Entomal is an amalgamation of many driving forces that, in other instances, may be at odds with each other. Idealism, capitalism, nationalism and activism – all of these mix and jive with each other well under Entomal, to the benefit of the country.
Still, one may be driven to conjecture if this whole thing is realistic. To many, the idea of growing insects as a source of income and to pay bills may seem a little farfetched. It may not be alchemy, but oftentimes people’s imagination is rather narrow. Yanni was amused. “Yes, yes. (The bill) has to be paid,” she said laughing. “We are all getting paid these days.”