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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

insect

Hargol FoodTech Raises $3M to Launch First Grasshopper Protein Product

Hargol FoodTech, a company that produces commercial grasshopper protein, announced today that it had raised $3 million from existing shareholders Sirius Venture Capital and SLF Investment Partners. This brings the company’s total funding to $5 million.

With its new funding Hargol plans to expand its production capacity to launch its first insect protein product line, which will be called Biblical Protein.

Based in Israel, Hargol is a portfolio company of The Trendlines Group and has been commercially farming grasshoppers for human consumption since 2014. This will be its first product release. Back in 2018, the company stated that it had already received $5 million in requests for orders of its grasshopper protein from companies like Ikea and Pepsico. Almost exactly two years later it seems like it’s finally prepared to start fulfilling said orders.

Hargol is far from the only company out there in the bug biz. Aspire makes B2B insect protein and acquired consumer-facing cricket bar brand Exo in 2018. Entomo Farms makes roasted crickets and cricket powder, and Orchestra Provisions is trying to entice consumers to eat insects by turning them into spice mixes.

There’s no question that we should be eating bugs — they’re high in protein and amino acids, incredibly sustainable, and easy to produce. But what is unsure is whether or not we’ll ever want to eat bugs. Western consumers may never get over the “ick” factor around eating creepy crawlies, regardless of how high in protein or easy on the environment they are.

Hargol has an advantage in that its grasshoppers are blended up into a powder, so they’re unrecognizable as bugs and can be easily added into other foods, like smoothies or cookies. Still, I’m not sure how ready Western consumers will be to “hop” up and buy a bag of grasshopper powder.

On the flip side, the coronavirus pandemic is making us all take a long, hard look at our food systems and security. Insects have the advantage of being incredibly easy to produce with limited natural resources and space, so maybe COVID-19 will actually help nudge consumers to open their minds to eating bugs.

Israeli Insect Protein Startup Flying Spark Gets Investment from Seafood Company Thai Union

Today Flying Spark, an Israeli startup that makes food products from larval insect protein, announced a partnership with Thai Union Group PCL, one of the world’s largest seafood producers. As part of the deal, Thai Union will also invest in the Israeli company.

Thai Union did not disclose how much it would invest in Flying Spark. However, a press release sent to The Spoon did reveal that this is the first investment by Thai Union from its new $30 million venture fund intended for food tech companies, including those in the alternative protein space.

While dining on larvae might not sound appetizing, at least to most Western consumers, insects are actually an incredibly sustainable source of protein. They require very little food or water, grow quickly, and the whole insect can be eaten — which means no food waste.

Companies like Aspire (which acquired cricket protein bar company Exo), Chirp’s, Orchestra Provisions and others are all trying to get Western consumers to eat insects. Even some celebrities have taken up the cause to advocate for bugs.

Considering Thai Union is one of the world’s largest seafood producers, however, their interest might be more focused on insect protein’s other main use: cheap, sustainable animal feed.

Currently the majority of feed for farmed fish is made from, well, smaller fish. That can be expensive and also means that those fish can’t be sold to consumers. Using insects to cultivate farmed fish could be a cheaper high-protein option.

If that is indeed the route they’re going, Flying Spark won’t be the first to get into the space. Last year French startup Ÿnsect raised €110 million (~$124 million) to build a giant farm to grow larvae for fish feed. However, with demand for fish predicted to increase by more than 50 percent over the next 15 years, there’ll be plenty of room for multiple players to swim onto the scene.

Orchestra Provisions Is Trying to Bring on the Insect Revolution through Cricket Spice Blends

On the whole, people are still pretty wary about eating bugs. They might try the occasional cricket tortilla chip or scoop of protein powder, but overall, consumers — at least Western ones — are a little creeped out by munching on insects.

One company pitching at our upcoming SKS Future Food competition is trying to make an easy way for people to incorporate bugs into their diet. Orchestra Provisions makes a line of spices, such as curry powder and za’atar, which are blended with cricket powder. We spoke with founder Kate Stoddard about why she decided spice blends were the way to get people to eat more insects. If you want to see her pitch live (and taste the buggy blends for yourself), be sure to get your ticket to SKS in Seattle this October!

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

First thing’s first: Give us your 15-second elevator pitch
The concept of entomophagy provides a biodiverse superfood that has the capacity to feed billions sustainably. This unique product line introduces a culture that harbors aversion to eating insects to bugs in an approachable way that changes little about the culinary process. Orchestra provisions’ spice line is used just the same as regular spices, but is based off of a cricket powder boasting 2.5 grams of protein per serving! One cannot see, taste or smell the crickets in these gourmet mixes. Gram to gram, crickets have more protein than beef, more calcium than milk and more iron than spinach. Crickets are also a great source of prebiotic fiber and taste like sunflower seeds. Requiring a fraction of the land, feed and water compared to beef or pork, crickets also emit very few greenhouse gases. Bonus: their waste is yet another useful product; garden fertilizer called “frass”. Orchestra is involved currently in the R&D phase of formulating a protein powder that will easily substitute in for less sustainable protein sources.

What inspired you to start Orchestra Provisions?
I am inspired by the way food culture and nutrition shape our ecosystems. Humans are destroying the very land that sustains them and I want to be a part of finding solutions that restore balance and harmony.

What have you found to be the most challenging part of getting a food startup off the ground?
Too many to list, but this may be yet another source of inspiration. To be brief, the top two challenges: The psychology of aversion to entomophagy and creating a market for more sustainable and responsible foods.

How will Orchestra Provisions change the day-to-day life of consumers and the food space as a whole?
The positive impacts of entomophagy are immeasurable and vast. One intent is to conserve more wild lands to preserve native and wild ecosystems where future generations can learn, observe and be in nature. Another goal is to feed the mouths we have managed to bring onto the planet without destroying it. Perhaps the most important vision is to integrate insects into the western diet by proving them as a gourmet experience that is anything but new to human history. With all of these sustainability goals, the day to day adjustments should be seamless, changing little about the way consumers buy and prepare meals. This is why my product line overcomes aversion, because it integrates into people’s busy lives efficiently and effectively.

Come watch Kate pitch live and taste Orchestra Provisions’ buggy products at the SKS Future Food Competition next month! Get 25% off your tickets here.

Ÿnsect Raises €110M to Build the World’s Largest Insect Farm (to Help Feed Fish)

Ÿnsect, a Paris-based company that farms insects for protein used in fish and pet food as well as fertilizer, announced today that it has raised a €110 million (~$124M USD) Series C round led by Astanor Ventures. This brings the total amount raised by Ÿnsect to $149.5 million.

The news comes via EU-Startups, which says that Ÿnsect will use the money to build the world’s biggest insect farm in Amiens Metropole, Northern France, which will eventually produce 20,000 tons of protein year.

When we talk about bug-based protein, we often talk about crickets, which are a source of easily renewable protein for baking flour or even workout supplements. Ÿnsect, however focuses on Molitor larvae, or mealworms.

One of the ways those mealworms will be put to use is as fish feed. Global demand for seafood has doubled in the past 50 years and continues to increase. Currently, roughly half of the seafood eaten worldwide comes from farmed fish, and that number is expected to hit 62 percent by 2030.

However, the food currently used to raise those farmed fish is… other fish in the form of fishmeal. A 2017 study from the University of British Columbia found that 90 percent of that fishmeal (roughly 18 million tons) is suitable for human consumption. Replacing fishmeal with insect feed like that made by Ÿnsect could help ease the stress on fish stocks, especially when combined with computer vision tech like Aquabyte’s to reduce overfeeding.

These efforts could in turn prolong our ability to savor salmon, at least until we’re able to make lab-grown fish.