A Thai woman in Phitsanulok province turned cockroach farming into a profitable business, supplying live insects as fishing bait to river anglers and earning more than 100,000 baht per month.
The 29 year old Thai woman, Nattaliya Amahasimae, runs a cockroach farm in Chum Saeng Songkhram, Bang Rakam, Phitsanulok. Nattaliya shared her business journey in an interview with Thai news agencies, saying her family lives near the Yom River, where many anglers catch cockroaches to use as fishing bait.
She said anglers told her that cockroaches worked better as bait than other insects and shrimp. After learning about the demand, Nattaliya began researching how to breed cockroaches and operate a farm.
Nattaliya discovered that raising cockroaches was not difficult and decided to start her own farm. She said she takes care of the cockroaches in a similar way to other farmed animals.
The insects are raised in suitable conditions and kept clean, fed high-quality chicken feed, and given fresh water every week. Nattaliya stressed that the farm-raised cockroaches are not fed dirty food like household cockroaches.
The insects are harvested according to their moulting cycle. Nattaliya selects the cockroaches shortly after they change from white to light brown before placing them in bottles for sale.
She currently sells the cockroaches for 130 baht per bottle, with each bottle containing about 50 insects. The farm sells more than 30 bottles a day, but demand has exceeded supply, forcing customers to place orders in advance.
Due to the high demand, Nattaliya also buys stock from other suppliers for resale. She only accepts live, farm-raised cockroaches and refuses household cockroaches and dead insects.
One customer, 21 year old fisherman Jakkrin Janchuen from Sukhothai province, said he had known about Nattaliya’s farm for about a year. Jakkrin said river anglers prefer cockroaches as bait to other insects because fish tend to take the bait more readily.
Nattaliya has been running the farm for about one year and plans to expand the business.
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