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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Vienna’s LIVIN Farms Receives €6 million to Upcycle Food Waste Into Insect-Powered Protein

Turning food waste into a usable commodity might seem like magic, but it’s a reality for companies such as Vienna-based LIVIN farms. The company has announced a €6 million Series A round led by venture Investor Peter Luerssen, allowing it to expand its team and solution.

As a player in the alternative protein space, LIVIN Farms developed HIVE PRO, a modular system for fully automated insect processing. HIVE PRO allows waste management companies and large-scale food producers to upcycle organic waste and by-products into valuable proteins, fats, and fertilizers.

In an interview with The Spoon, Katharina Unger, Founder of LIVIN Farms, explained her company’s process. “Livin Farms customers are largely food and feed processing companies and agricultural players that have access to at least several thousand tons of organic by-products every year. They typically make a loss on it by having disposal costs. Generally used feed substrates include by-products, surplus production from the bakery, potato, vegetable, and fruit processing industry, and pre-consumer wastes from retail and grain by-products.”

One of the critical elements of the LIVIN Farms solution is the use of black soldier fly larvae in its “plug-and-play” solution. A module is set up at a customer site, after which, as Unger says, her company operates it as a Farming as a Service (FaaS) model. The first step is when the organic waste of the customer is recycled on-site by being processed and prepared as feed for the insects. After that is completed, using a robotic handling machine moves the feed made from the organic food waste into pallet-sized trays. The machine then inserts seedlings (baby larvae) and empties the harvest-ready larvae from the trays.

At this point, insect Larvae are fed on recycled organic food waste in a climate-controlled environment. The insects are then ready to be harvested within seven days only. The final step is processing the insect larvae into protein powder and oils. The end product is three animal feed types high in protein, antibacterial, and antiviral properties.

LIVIN Farms LIVIN farms recently opened a fully up-and-running 1,400 square meter pilot site in Vienna where the HIVE PRO is demonstrated to interested customers.

Unger began her journey to building LIVIN Farms in 2013, she said. “The idea for Livin farms started when I developed the first device to grow the entire lifecycle of the black soldier fly larvae in a kitchen device to turn kitchen scraps into proteins ready to harvest. This prototype was patented and then turned into a tabletop farm for mealworms (The Hive) later on that was sold in the hundreds to more than 45 countries worldwide. Since 2019, Livin Farms has used our years of R&D to focus on industrial insect farming technologies.”

The company is working on projects throughout Europe, Unger said. LIVIN Farms hopes to have several installations over the next several years.

LIVIN Farms has previously secured a Seed investment round, grants, and subsidies from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), Austrian Promotional Bank (AWS), and the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the European “Green Deal,” totaling more than $4 million €. The company believes its latest investment will lead to the “further growth of the company and will be used for expanding the LIVIN farms team, standardization of the technical solutions, and driving the initial scale-up phase.”

Swedish Edible Insect Startup Tebrito Raises €800,000

Tebrito, a Swedish startup that creates insect protein, announced today that it raised €800,000 (~ $966,305 USD) to scale up its operations. Investors include Almi Invest, angel investors as well as Kanopé Impact and Crosslight Partners investment funds. This brings the total amount raised by Tebrito to €1,250,000 (~ $1.5M USD).

According to a press announcement sent to The Spoon, Tebrito’s extraction method allows it to get an 88 percent protein-rich ingredient from mealworms. Tebrito worked with researchers at the Swedish University for Agriculture for two years on its technology, which also separates oil and chitin from mealworms. The end result is a nutritious power that is odorless and tasteless.

Tebrito says that its production method also has environmental benefits, as it uses leftover cereal and discarded vegetables to feed its insects. The company is also exploring ways to use by-products from the pulp and paper and beer industries to feed its mealworms.

Part of the allure for insects-as-food is that as a protein source, they are much easier to cultivate and much less resource-intensive than raising cows or other larger species of animal.

But while there may be plenty of good reasons to start chowing down on insects, the concept has not crossed over into the mainstream yet in the U.S. Though that’s not for a lack of startups trying. Beobia makes a countertop device that lets you grow your own mealworms at home. Earlier this year Insectta nabbed an undisclosed investment from The Trendlines Group. And last month, Cricket One announced funding for its cricket based burger patty.

One recent development that could help with the mainstreaming of mealworm eating is that last month, the Swedish Food Safety Authority authorized insects as food. This type of regulatory stamp could help put peoples’ minds at ease.

For its part, Tebrito says it will use its new money to automate its operations and scale up production.

Human Improvement Founders Want to Make Cricket Protein Palatable for Masses

McCarty points to rapid attitude shifts towards cannabis (McCarty and Campbell were executives at cannabis startup Dosist prior to HI) in recent years and think a similar shift could be coming for crickets. In cannabis, “you’re seeing a massive of stigma shift that I’ve never seen having anything in that space, at that scale, and that speed,” said McCarty.

How do you get a similar stigma shift with insects? According to McCarty, much of it will have to do with marketing.

“I’m always amazed that marketing is driving people to make bad decisions,” said McCarty. “Being ethical and responsible people, shouldn’t we be driving people to make good decisions with marketing?”

Part of that marketing and messaging has a lot to do with how the product looks. HI’s sleek and colorful packaging is a departure from the typical big tubs of protein powder found on store shelves in the health and wellness aisle. And while the packaging doesn’t scream crickets, the founders also wanted to be very clear about the ingredients list on the food label.

According to Campbell, all of this was intentional.

He notes the HI’s packaging “jumps off the shelf” and is designed to “steal [market]share from underperforming products” currently out there. Speaking of reactions to the product, he adds that the company has received everything from, “Oh my goodness, someone’s finally got it right” to “You guys have got to be crazy, no one’s ever going to buy this” and everything in between. “We’re far more impressed with the positive response we’ve had,” says Campbell.

But still, why did two executives who spent their lives at companies like Starbucks and the fast-growing cannabis space decide on crickets?

According to Campbell, the idea came in spring of 2019 when he was working with an innovation lab and looking at other alt proteins. Around that time, he started looking for the most nutrient-dense protein out there that also had a good environmental footprint.

The answer he got back: “We’ve known for thousands of years, it’s insects.”

And now, HI’s protein powder can be found in numerous grocery stores and through Amazon and the company’s website. The company has also managed to bring the product to market without raising any venture funding.

“So we’ve kept it very lean from the start, unlike a lot of companies we see in the space that go and raise millions of dollars of venture financing, have huge teams and beautiful offices,” said Campbell. “We said, ‘Let’s make sure we’ve got a product that consumers love, first and foremost, and then once we’ve got that, then let’s invest behind and build that.’ So we’ve been very diligent about our process to date.”

Spoon Plus subscribers can listen to my entire interview with Josh Campbell and Derek McCarty below. If you’re interested in subscribing to Plus, you can learn more here.

The Re_ Device Promises to Let You Grow Your Own Edible Insects at Home

Look, I know the global pandemic pushed us towards growing more of our own food and changing our eating habits. But have we reached the point where we’re ready to grow — and consume — our own insects at home?

That’s the question Beobia looks to answer next week when it launches a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund its Re_ device. The Re_ is a series of five stackable pods that allow you to grow between 100 – 300 grams of mealworms per harvest. According to Beobia, mealworms are 54 percent protein, and “22,000 time more water efficient than beef.”

The grow pods themselves are 3D printed and made from recycled bioplastics. The company doesn’t get into the specifics around the insects or how long it takes to harvest them, but the site mealwormcare.org says they come from darkling beetles, and take between 1– 4 weeks to grow from egg to larvae (which is the mealworm).

The site also doesn’t say how much the Re_ will cost, only that early Kickstarter backers will get a 30 percent discount. The Kickstarter campaign officially launches on July 7.

Edible insects are certainly nothing new to The Spoon. We’ve covered a number of edible insect companies including a cricket protein powder, fried grasshoppers at stadiums, and the funding to build the world’s largest insect farm.

But with almost every story about edible bugs that we’ve written was the caveat, Will people eat them? To be more specific, will people in the U.S. eat them? Despite them being packed with protein, there is still the “ick” factor to get over.

We certainly applaud Beobia and its efforts to create a more sustainable and self-sufficient food system. But at the same time, there is something a little unsettling in the company’s promotional video when it shows someone throwing a handful of mealworms into the blender to make a morning smoothie.

But who knows? After a few more months of quarantine, I may shift my eating habits from too many carbs to a bounty of bugs.

Bug Ingredient Company Insectta Nabs Funding as Investors Flock to Alternative Protein

One foodtech area that seems to be chugging along nicely, despite the pandemic? Alternative protein.

And just not plant-based protein. The Trendlines Group, an Israel-based commercialization company, announced today that it had invested an undisclosed amount in Insectta, a Singaporean startup that extracts biomaterials from insects.

When it was founded in 2017, Insectta was originally focused on cultivating insects for use in animal feeds. However, recently the company pivoted to extract an element from insects, called chitosan, for use in industries like food, packaging and pharmaceuticals. Insectta is currently developing a way to turn black soldier flies into both protein and probiotic, specifically for animal feed.

According to a press release from The Trendlines Group, Insectta will operate out of Trendlines’ Agrifood Fund offices. The startup is aiming to have its first products on the market by the end of the year.

Since we don’t know the exact amount of funding at play here, this is a piece of news we might normally gloss over. But in the past thirty days, we’ve seen an eye-catching amount of investment in not only bug-based protein, but alternative protein in general.

Last month Hargol FoodTech, an Israel-based company making commercial grasshopper protein, raised $3 million. In the plant-based protein space, the past month has seen alternative chicken startup Rebellyous raised $6 million, Singaporean alt-meat company Growthwell Group grab $8 million, and Israeli chickpea protein producer Innovopro raise $25 million.

New funds, like Eat Beyond Global and Big Idea Ventures’ Generation Food, also show that COVID isn’t slowing investment in alternative protein. In fact, if anything it’s accelerating it. Outbreaks at meat processing plants and corresponding shortages have pushed investors to channel their funds into other protein sources — ones with more sustainable supply chains. Insects, with their low environmental footprint and high protein output, are clearly one of the spaces that investors think could have potential in our post-pandemic world.

Future Food: Cultured Meat is Gaining Major $$$, and Should We Give Up on Insects?

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Memphis Meats, the Berkeley-based cellular agriculture company that famously grew the world’s first cell-based meatball in 2016, announced this week that it had raised an eye-popping $160 million dollar Series B round. That’s more than had been raised by the entire cellular agriculture and aquaculture space up to now. It also brings Memphis Meats’ total funding to over $180 million.

In some ways, this massive infusion of cash makes sense. Over the past few years cell-based meat and seafood has gone from futuristic vision to actually feasible reality. Cultured meat and seafood companies have demonstrated their potential though recent culinary demos and a spate of partnerships with large ingredient companies. Some have even released plans for giant production facilities that can churn out millions of pounds of cell-based meat per year.

But the key word here is plans. It’s notable that a company which has yet to bring a product to market — and could potentially never do so affordably or on a large scale — has raised such an eye-popping amount of cash. Even though it’s been given a vote of confidence by big-name investors like Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Tyson Foods.

We’re living in a time when investors are throwing cash at any startup that claims to be “disruptive,” with decidedly mixed results. Interestingly, Softbank, which recently went through its WeWork ordeal, led the Series B funding round for Memphis Meats. So is cell-based meat at risk of the same boom-and-bust cycle we’ve seen with other high-tech startups?

Memphis Meats’ cultured meatball

Frustratingly, without a product to market, it’s too early to say. I, however, am optimistic about the future of cultured meat and seafood. Studies indicate that one-third of U.S. consumers are open to trying cultured meat. That’s nowhere near the viral popularity of plant-based protein, but as cell-based meat becomes more commonplace — and proves that the product can be as tasty as the real thing — those numbers could rise.

One safe bet is that we can prepare to see a lot more funding funneling into cell-based meat and seafood. Now the pressure is on for those companies to put it to good use by actually getting a tasty product to market.

Should we stop bugging people to eat bugs?
Cultured meat may still be years away from our plate, but insects are ready to hop right on as our new source of alternative protein.

The question is, Will we (meaning Western consumers) ever get over our aversion to bugs and embrace the idea of eating them? The Spoon’s Head Editor Chris Albrecht pointed out a tweet from Mike Bird of the Wall Street Journal that basically said we should give up on insects. People just flat-out don’t want to eat them. I kinda agree.

https://twitter.com/Birdyword/status/1220360879021015041?s=20

I’ve bought cricket chips and tried roasted grasshopper occasionally in the past, but am I ready to make bugs an everyday dietary staple? No way.

I feel pretty guilty about that. We’ve all heard the preaching about how eating bugs is good for the environment, a healthy choice, and can be downright tasty. They’re available everywhere from high-class restaurants to protein bars. They’re even sold at baseball stadiums, for goodness’ sake!

But no matter how much we know we should learn to love insects, I’m skeptical it will ever happen. At least as long as we can see the insects that we’re eating. Maybe the solution is to double down on insect-infused spices and protein powder, which lets you forget you’re eating things with wings and antennae.

Or maybe, like Bird points out, it’s just time to give up. Let’s leave the bugs outside and focus on making protein from plants and animal cells, instead.

Photo: JUST’s new plant-based omelet

Protein Around the Web

  • TurtleTree Labs, a Sinagpore-based company growing lactating mammary gland cells in a lab (which produce milk!), secured an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding.
  • Sweet Earth Foods (owned by Nestlé) will begin selling its plant-based meats at so-called ‘Vegetarian Butcher’ deli counters at select supermarkets (h/t VegNews).
  • JUST is releasing a pre-made frozen vegan omelet made from mung beans, which will be sold in grocery stores and foodservice.

Eat well,
Catherine

In Finland, EntoCube Aims to Make Insect Farming Cheaper By Taking It Deep Underground

In an old mine deep underground in Finland, something is stirring. It may sound like the intro to a monster movie, but it’s actually the location of Finnish startup EntoCube’s latest edible insect farm.

For the last year, EntoCube has been growing insects for human consumption in underground farms located in old mines. The mines are roughly 1,400 meters deep, with a temperature that hovers at around 28 °C (~82 °F), thanks to natural geothermal heat. EntoCube’s farming project, which cost €250,000 (~$277,000 USD) to build according to Sifted, is done in partnership with Callio Pyhäjärvi, which runs Europe’s deepest metal mine.

Founded in 2014, EntoCube builds and sells farming tech for edible insects geared towards everyone from home experimenters up to those looking to start their own insect enterprise. The startup also sells its own line of insect foodstuffs through its website, including cricket granola and powder.

According to the Sifted article, EntoCube founder Robert Nemlander took the farm underground to capitalize on the natural climate of the mines. Their temperature and humidity level is not only ideal for growing crickets, it also makes the whole endeavor cheaper since the company doesn’t have to pay for heating — one of the most expensive parts of insect farming.

Surprisingly, insect farming is costlier than, say, cattle farming. Bugs may require only minimal land, food, and water, but the technology to farm them is so new that, for now, it costs more to buy a pound of crickets than a pound of beef. Nemlander is hoping to change all of that by creating more efficient production methods and also thinking outside the traditional farm formula — or, more accurately, under it.

The startup’s latest underground location may be unique, but it’s not the only one betting on insects as the next big sustainable protein source — and not just for humans. Israeli startup Flying Spark has partnered with Thai Union, one of the world’s largest seafood companies, to make insect-based animal feed. In France, Ÿnsect raised a whopping €110 million (~$124M USD) to build the world’s biggest insect farm, where bugs will be grown for fish and pet food. Here in the U.S., Chips makes chips and protein powder from crickets, while Aspire acquired cricket protein bar Exo last year.

There’s no question that the edible insect market has a lot of potential. Bugs are quick to grow, don’t require many resources, and take a much smaller toll on the environment than meat. Since demand for protein doesn’t seem like it’ll slow anytime soon, insects could provide a much-needed ethical and sustainable source.

That is, if people can get over the “ick” factor. More than a quarter of the world’s population already chows down on bugs, but Western consumers are hesitant to embrace creepy crawlies on their plates. Companies are hoping to get consumers over their aversion to bugs to blending them into products like protein bars and spices and serving them as a crispy snack at baseball stadiums. Even celebrities are taking up the cause.

EntoCube’s underground farm is certainly an interesting strategy to reduce cricket cost. Now we’ll just have to wait and see if people actually want to eat them.

Some Say Lab-Grown Insects Are the Food of the Future. But Will People Eat Them?

Over half of U.S. consumers say that they would not eat food made with cricket flour. Only a third of diners in the U.S. and U.K. would take a taste of cell-based meat (that is, meat grown in a lab). So why has there suddenly been so much buzz about how the future of food is lab-grown insects? And is it, actually?

The driving force is a piece in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems by researchers from Tufts University. It suggests that cultured insects (that is, bug cells grown in a lab) are a sustainable source of protein we should be paying more attention to.

According to the paper, invertebrate cell cultures require fewer resources and are more adaptable than mammalian or avian cultures. They can also grow with serum-free media, which makes them significantly cheaper to produce.

This February a new study raised questions about whether cell-based meat was actually better for the environment than traditional animal agriculture. Unlike most cultured meats, however, cultured insect cells require fewer resources (like cooling and electricity), so it’s significantly more sustainable.

Plenty of people have advocated insects as an environmentally friendly protein source, even before cellular agriculture came on the scene. Insects require significantly less land and water than cattle and emit far fewer greenhouses gases, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They produce quickly, have a variety of flavor profiles, also boast an enviable nutritional profile.

But there’s one big problem: the “ick” factor. While roughly 2 billion people around the world consume insects regularly, many Westerners are still grossed out by the thought of eating bugs. A few startups like Chirp’s (which makes cricket chips and protein powder) and Exo (which makes cricket protein bars) have had success selling insect-laden CPG products and ants and water bugs grace menus at Michelin-starred restaurants, but they’re still an anomaly. Edible insect companies are even having a tough time finding employees willing to work to harvest the creepy crawlies.

That’s where the lab aspect could have a difference. Not in the cost of growing insect protein — it’s quite cheap to produce them outside the lab — but in perception. Sure, not everyone wants to eat a full-on cricket complete with wings and legs (though Seattle Mariner’s fans do!). But they’re probably more willing to eat insect protein sourced from a lab. All the more so when they learn about insects’ health benefits: high levels of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and minerals.

That’s not to say people will necessarily want to bite into a lab-grown bug burger anytime soon. (Even if they did, we’re still a few years from even being able to make one.) Instead, I envision a future where cell-based insect protein could act as a partial meat replacement in processed foods like sausages or nuggets — similar to what Better Meat Co. is doing, only with bugs instead of wheat protein. Cultured insect protein could also combine with plant-based meat to make it more realistic in texture, flavor, and nutrition profile.

No matter what form its in, it’ll take a while for Westerners to accept insects as an acceptable source of protein — if they accept it at all. But the recent wave of interest in cultured meat makes me hopeful that insects could be getting their heydey. Perhaps, as the Frontiers article notes, this is “an opportune moment to revisit insect cells as a nutrition source.” Just as a supplement instead of a stand-alone food product.

Beast Mode: Chirp’s Launches Kickstarter for Cricket Protein Powder

For openminded bodybuilders who want to get ripped, there’s a new type of protein powder out ready for you to chug it down on the way to your morning CrossFit shred sesh.

Today Chirps, the San Francisco-based company which makes insect chips in flavors like Sriracha and BBQ, launched a Kickstarter for its newest product: Cricket Protein Powder. The powder has 20 grams of protein per serving and is made of peas, brown rice, chia seeds, and, oh yeah, insects.

Typically, protein powder is made either with soy, which can lead to deforestation, or whey, which can have, um, undesired gastrointestinal outputs. Crickets are also one of the more sustainable protein sources out there: it takes one gallon of water to produce one pound of crickets, but it takes roughly 300 gallons to grow one pound of soybeans, and over 1,000 gallons to make one pound of whey (because cows).

It should be noted, briefly, that not all proteins are created equal. Both cricket and whey are complete proteins, meaning they contain all 9 essential animo acids, but whey stands out because it absorbs super quickly into the body to stimulate post-workout muscle growth. I couldn’t find any solid information about cricket absorption rates online, so muscle-heads, take that as you will.

The one-pound tubs of protein powder, which come in chocolate or vanilla, are priced at $39 for one, $65 for two, and $78 for three (share one with a friend!). There’s no information on what the retail price of the powder will be. Until Dec. 16th backers can take advantage of the “Holiday Special,” which basically means you get a free cricket cookbook and a guarantee that your order will arrive in time for “Crickmas.”

In fact, Chirps promises to have the first ~3,000 units delivered before December 25th, with the rest shipping in February 2019. Yes, that’s three weeks away — but I’m optimistic they can pull it off. The company already managed one successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 to launch their cricket chips, in which they reached their $30,000 goal in three days.

Judging from some sleuthing on the Updates page, however, they did seem to have struggled with a 9-month shipping delay. But that was four years ago. Since then Chirps seems to have fixed any production snags; the chips are available in dozens of shops around the U.S. and on Amazon.

Chirps isn’t the only company working to bring insects to the mainstream: Seek Food also launched a crowdfunding campaign for their cricket-based baking flour, fried grasshoppers are a fan favorite at Seattle’s Safeco field, and even celebrities have hopped (heh) on the edible insect bandwagon. Crik Nutrition also makes a cricket-based protein powder, though theirs is quite a bit pricier.

If their goal is to make insect-eating the norm, it makes sense for Chirps to target the health food market. Crickets are a great source of protein, iron, and B12, and when they’re pulverized into a powder or an energy bar a lot of the “ick” factor goes away.

Hopefully Chirps and others can help de-stigmatize bug-eating in the U.S. — and help you shred your quads along the way.

Food Tech News Roundup: Plastic-Free Grocery Stores, Food Waste Accelerators, & Crowd Cow Tackles Pork

This week certainly kept us busy. Bear Robotics, which we were the first to cover, got a $2M investment, and Amazon opened the door to in-car grocery delivery. We also explored meat alternatives, from a tour of JUST’s cultured meat lab to Omnipork’s plant-based pork. Most excitingly of all, we had our first food tech meetup in which we explored the future of recipes.

If you don’t feel news-ed out, we’ve rounded a few food tech stories that caught our eye around the web this week. Great to peruse on a Sunday morning, post-snooze.

Photo: Crowd Cow

Crowd Cow moves to pork
Beginning May 2nd, Crowd Cow, the Seattle-based startup that lets carnivores buy cuts of meat directly from farmers, will expand into pork. Customers will be able to buy various snout to tail porcine products like bacon, pork chops, and sausages from four pig farmers; two on the East Coast, two on the West Coast. This expansion speaks to consumers’ growing interest in food transparency, especially in meat, as well as their demand for convenience — Crowd Cow cuts out the visit to the grocery store and delivers flash-frozen meat directly their customers’ doors.

 

Photo: Somadetect

Documentary on minority women in Agtech
Journalist and filmmaker Amy Wu has created a documentary called “From Farms to Incubators,” which tells the stories of minority women entrepreneurs in agtech in the California area. The film will premiere on May 3rd in the 2018 Steinbeck Festival in Salinas Valley. The documentary profiles minority women who are creating innovation in the agricultural sector through mobile apps, robotics, data systems, and beyond. Agtech, like many tech fields, is male-dominated. (Despite notable exceptions like women-run companies SomaDetect and AgShift.) The screening is free and open to the community.

 

Photo: Hooch

Hooch debuts next-level exclusive subscription
Hooch, the company that lets you claim a free drink every day from one of their participating bars and restaurants, just launched a new subscription level: Hooch Black. It’ll cost you quite a bit more — $295 per year, instead of $9.99 per month — but it has a lot more perks, too. On top of the drink-a-day service, subscribers also get hotel discounts, preferred restaurant reservations, and even tickets to performances like Hamilton or Coachella. Wannabe users also have to fill out an application before they even have the option to pay for the subscription.

CEO Lin Dai told Techcrunch that Hooch Black will continue Hooch’s mission to be the “an antidote to apps that ‘facilitate a couch economy’,” such as food delivery services. Instead of bringing the booze to you, they’re encouraging you to get out and drink it in a bar — and Hooch Black takes that even further by pushing users to go on trips, eat at restaurants, and attend live shows.

 

Photo: Ekoplaza

100% plastic-free grocery store opens in Amsterdam
This Wednesday a grocery store opened in Amsterdam that claimed to be the world’s first plastic-free pop-up store. The shop, dubbed Ekoplaza, has over 700 grocery items according to The Washington Post — and no plastic. Instead, food is packaged in plant-based compostable biofilm or just displayed, packaging-free, in glass, metal, and cardboard containers.

Plastic waste from food packaging is a huge problem — that’s why companies like NASA, the U.S. Army, and Unilever are working on ways to find alternatives. Ekoplaza, and other stores focusing on bulk shopping like Bulk Market, are tackling plastic food packing waste from the consumer shopping side.

 

Edible grasshopper company reportedly has $5M in order requests
This week Israeli edible insect company Hargol FoodTech told CTech that they had already received $5 million in requests for orders from companies in the U.S. and Europe. According to the aforementioned article, Ikea, Whole Foods, and Pepsico have already expressed interest in purchasing the startup’s grasshopper-based protein powder.

If these numbers are accurate, it would indicate a shift towards acceptance of edible insects — especially after recent growth news from Entomo Farms and Aspire/Exo. And if companies like Pepsico and Ikea are really getting on board, bugs could become a mainstream ingredient relatively soon.

 

A new accelerator for startups fighting food waste
Copenhagen-based transport and logistics company A.P. Moller-Marsk is partnering with startup accelerator Rockstart to create a program targeting food waste, reported FoodNavigator. Dubbed FoodTrack, the one-month program will start on June 6th and will offer workshops and guidance from mentors to the 10 startups selected to participate. They hope to help give the startups tools to tackle food waste, specifically in the early stages of the value chain (growth, harvest, and distribution.)

Food Tech News Roundup: More Crickets, Fewer Wobbly Tables

Happy Saturday! Hopefully you’ve got some pancakes and a hot liquid of your choice. Maybe you’re recovering from the Specialty Coffee Expo, like we are (check out the robot barista and connected coffee roasters we saw!). To kick off your weekend, we’ve rounded up some quick food tech stories from the week that caught our eye. Enjoy!

Edible insects leap forward in Canada
It was a big week for edible insect company Entomo Farms. First, Maple Leaf Foods, a company best known for its plant-based meat products, took a minority stake in the company. Secondly, food distributor Loblaws launched a cricket powder made with insects from Entomo Farms. These two updates are a big step towards introducing edible bugs into the mainstream — at least in Canada, where Maple Leaf and Loblaws are based.

Grubhub adds Venmo payment option
This week food delivery service Grubhub launched an update that will allow its customers to automatically split the cost of their food with Venmo, the Paypal-like app that lets you send money to friends, and request payments. This is a (smart) way that Grubhub is adding value, trying to distinguish itself from the competitive food delivery pool. Grubhub owns Eat24 and Seamless, so they’ll also offer the Venmo payment option.

Finally! A way to fix that wobbly table
You can stop wedging sugar packets and napkins under your wobbly restaurant tables — a pair of restauranteurs have developed a hydraulics system that will keep your table wobble-free, even on uneven floors. Customers can either purchase their FLAT table bases, which use fluid to expand or compress table feet, stabilizing the table, or if they don’t want to purchase all new furniture, there’s also a modular option which can replace screw-in table feet. A low-tech solution to a highly annoying problem.

The Food Corridor releases a guide for commercial kitchen spaces
On Tuesday The Food Corridor launched their Shared Kitchen Toolkit. The Food Corridor, which raised $555K in February, is an online platform which lets budding food entrepreneurs connect to shared commercial kitchen spaces. The web-based toolkit is geared not towards startups, but towards people who want to launch and manage a commercial kitchen space. Because with more shared kitchen spaces come more startups; if you build it, they will come.

Did we miss any food tech updates from the week? Tell us in the comments, or on twitter @thespoontech.

Can Celebrities (and Celebrity Chefs) Help Us Overcome The Insect “Ick” Factor?

We all know that we should be eating insects. After all, bugs are a dietary staple for billions of people around the globe, and they have a significantly lower environmental footprint than meat. But Americans are still having a tricky time getting over the “ick” factor that comes with munching on crawling critters.

The concept is popular in theory. According to Meticulous Research, the global insects market is expected to be valued at almost $1.2 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 23.8% from 2018. This increase is mainly due to a ballooning population, waning food resources, and a high demand for protein.

All logical arguments aside, a lot of people are still pretty grossed out when it comes to eating bugs. But some influencers — chefs, celebrities, and celebrity chefs — are trying to change that.

“Eating insects is intellectually popular right now, and it’s a great conversation piece,” said Meeru Dhalwala, chef at Vancouver restaurant Vij. “But more chefs need to experiment with insects.”

Some are certainly trying. Rene Redzepi of Noma fame has been known to make liberal use of ants on his menus. Alex Atala, who was on Season 2 of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, uses Amazonian insects on his menus. In the commercial sphere, Bitty Foods developed cricket flour cookies in tandem with celebrity chef (and smart kitchen enthusiast) Tyler Florence. Cricket protein bar company Exo, who just got acquired by Aspire Food Group, partnered with chef Kyle Connaughton to develop their creations.

Celebrities are pushing the insect diet, too. Salma Hayek posted a video of herself sampling crickets on Instagram, and has been eating ants and grasshoppers since she was a child. Angelina Jolie cooked up a feast of tarantulas and scorpions in Cambodia for a video on BBC News. Questlove has shared a video of himself eating a cricket-topped salad. And most recently, Nicole Kidman caused ripples across the internet by eating a four-course meal of “micro-livestock” — also known as bugs — for Vanity Fair’s Secret Talent Theatre.

Nicole Kidman Eats Bugs | Secret Talent Theatre | Vanity Fair

As she works her way through plate after plate of mealworms, hornworms, crickets, and grasshoppers, she points out that 2 billion people around the world eat bugs. “And I’m one of them,” she said.

Kidman genuinely seems to be eating the insects, and even enjoying them. She basically swoons when she opens up her serving platter to revel fried grasshoppers. “These are amazing,” she gushes. “I’d recommend them.”

I’d be curious to see if her performance — or other celebrity’s vocal support for bug consumption — translates to an uptick in ecommerce purchases of insects and insect products.

Personally, I think that insects could find their entrance into the mainstream through the health and exercise food market. Crickets, for example, are 65% protein (compared to beef’s 50%), packed with vitamins, minerals, and Omega-3 fatty acids, and are very low in fat. And when they’re roasted and milled into flour, crickets can be added to a myriad of dishes in a relatively under-the-radar way. A survey by PureGym in the U.K found that 35% of gym-goers were willing to try edible insects. I could see them being used in powdered drink supplements and expanding their presence in the energy bar sector.

As high-protein, low-carb diets grow in popularity, crickets (and other insects) may have found their time to shine. As long as people can channel their inner Nicole Kidman and get over the “ick” factor, first.