Dried cockroaches worth $20 dollars a pound in China. Who knew cockroaches were used in the cosmetic industry as well!?
LA Times wrote:The 43-year-old businessman is the largest cockroach producer in China (and thus probably in the world), with six farms populated by an estimated 10 million cockroaches. He sells them to producers of Asian medicine and to cosmetic companies that value the insects as a cheap source of protein as well as for the cellulose-like substance on their wings.
The favored breed for this purpose is the Periplaneta americana, or American cockroach, a reddish-brown insect that grows to about 1.6 inches long and, when mature, can fly, as opposed to the smaller, darker, wingless German cockroach.
Since Wang got into the business in 2010, the price of dried cockroaches has increased tenfold, from about $2 a pound to as much as $20, as manufacturers of traditional medicine stockpile pulverized cockroach powder.
"I thought about raising pigs, but with traditional farming, the profit margins are very low," Wang said. "With cockroaches, you can invest 20 yuan and get back 150 yuan," or $3.25 for a return of $11.
Read more at http://www.tgdaily.com/health-brief/80789-cockroaches-the-next-great-growth-industry#bhEhBTgQyJmrxAer.99
http://www.tgdaily.com/health-brief/80789-cockroaches-the-next-great-growth-industry
