As you may know by now, crickets are extremely rich with protein. They’re packed with Calcium, Iron, Vitamin B12, Zinc, and Magnesium. Yet they aren’t popular fare in Western culture. At least not yet--the cricket consumption culture is still on the rise.

In Western civilizations, there is a barrier to entry: an emotional barrier. It’s hard for people in Western culture to get past the fact that they’re eating bugs. However, the products that are currently on the market aren’t bugs, per se.

The main insect-related, consumer-facing product is cricket flour. The process to create this flour is simply dry roasting crickets and then condensing them into powder form. The end result is a powder that is packed with protein and looks like “cumin.” No legs, antennae or eyes staring up at you. It is just a powder optimized for clean protein to enhance the human body.

I’m not sure if or when the consumption of whole crickets will be adopted into Western civilization with the same acceptance as other parts of the world. 80% of countries in the world accept insects as edible food groups. Still, for some it’s hard to get past the ick factor to imagine crickets as a replacement for croutons on a salad. Although, similar arguments were made against lobster and sushi not too long ago. Everyone knows how that played out with them both becoming culinary delicacies!

There is also a delicate balance in marketing the cricket as a revolutionary food. It can’t be gimmicky with taste challenges or anything of the sort, because there are actually so many benefits. When you take into account the fact that crickets can help secure food sustainability, have a fantastic impact on the environment, and have a powerful functional health benefit, it’s easy to see that crickets have a very unique opportunity to be a part of western culture.

Cricket-related companies have also received quite a bit of attention in recent years from many different places. Mark Cuban invested in a cricket based company on Shark Tank, self help guru Tim Ferriss invested in a cricket bar company, and Aspire received $1,000,000 from Bill Clinton by winning the Hult Prize. All in all, it’s safe to say the cricket is on the rise.

Click here to view the cricket flour in our store.