This article was first published in the March 2016 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The cookie in Leslie Ziegler's hand contains eight protein-rich crickets, thanks to Bitty Foods' patented mix of cassava, coconut and powdered cricket, intended as a replacement for regular flour.
Each cup of Bitty's flour contains 28g of protein - around double that of wheat equivalents. So far, so good - but then there's that whole "eating insects" thing... "Eighty per cent of the world's population eats insects," explains Ziegler, who co-founded Bitty Foods alongside former digital-media executive Megan Miller. "We want to get the other 20 per cent over the visual barrier."
Bitty buys its insects from US and Canadian cricket farms, which grow them for six weeks from eggs until they are ready to be "harvested". "It's very humane," says Ziegler. "Put them in the freezer for ten minutes and they go to sleep." The insects are boiled to remove toxins, then dry roasted and milled.
Bitty’s cookies, which are sold online and in some US stores, are $10 (£6.60) for a pack of 12, but its flour costs $20 for 566g, whereas normal baking flour is usually around 75p for the same amount.
Champions of insect-eating include the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, which recommends insects for their nutritional value and low environmental impact – but at this price, can cricket flour ever become truly mainstream?
Ziegler expects the price to drop as cricket farms adapt to the growing demand. "The price of crickets is going down," she says. “But farmers are used to selling by the insect, not by weight."
Every aspect of Bitty's branding has been designed to reassure nervous shoppers, from the friendly branding right down to the choice of insect. ("Crickets don't have a gross factor", says Ziegler.) Will this be enough to help Westerners overcome their squeamishness? "Many people just don't like the idea of an insect," says Ziegler. "But if they can't see it, and all it is is a cookie, then it's okay. Who says no to a cookie?"
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
