Entomophagy is a hard pill to swallow. That’s why we’re paying attention to 7 brilliant food innovators who are dedicated to bringing appetising insect treats to the masses. How do you say no to pasta bolognese and cookies?

Why insects? Insects look pretty gross. We get it. Creepy-crawlies with extraterrestrial-like appearances. Even the word ‘creepy’ is used to describe them. These ‘creepy’ grubs however are actually what the future of food looks like.

Insects have the potential to reduce the environmental impact created by

created by traditional production of meat. The cultivation of insects requires significantly less resources and produces less harmful emissions than livestock production, hence making their production extremely efficient and sustainable. They are also a super source of nutrition. For instance, eating just 10g of crickets is enough to supply your daily dose of vitamin B12!

If that’s not enough to convince you to give bugs a chance, check out these kick-ass insect pioneers that are working hard to reverse unsavoury notions about bugs and get you to eat your insects!

1. Bolognese sauce made with crickets and mealworms

One Hop Kitchen’s bolognese sauce is the first (and only) pasta sauce in the world made with insects. We tried their luscious insect bolognese alongside traditional meat ragu. You could barely taste the difference! This is due to their proprietary recipe that features textured insect protein – developed after tireless experiments done through OHK’s other company specialising in textured insect protein. We can’t believe it’s not beef!

Check it out: http://onehopkitchen.com/; http://cfufoods.com/

2. Grub that you can add into your pantry

Eat Grub sells three varieties of insect-based products: Cricket bars, snacks and cooking ingredients. Their products are free of gluten, nut, dairy and soy with no added sugar. They take the sin out of snacking and make fun bar nibbles too. Adventurous home cooks should spruce up their repertoire with Eat Grub’s edible buffalo worms, mealworms, crickets and grasshoppers. They are currently stocked all over London at Planet Organic, Partridges and select independent food stores.

Check it out: http://www.eatgrub.co.uk/

3. Cookies & chips made with sustainably produced cricket flour

As one of the first pioneers of insect products, Bitty produces finished treats made of their sustainably produced cricket flour. These treats include cookies in delicious flavours that are free of grains, processed sugar and dairy. They recently introduced Chiridos chips inspired by chapulines, a traditional Mexican snack. The Chiridos are protein-rich and available in three Mexican-inspired flavours. We tried the Chiridos at our Insect Bar and they were addictive to say the least!

Check it out: https://bittyfoods.com/

4. 100% European crickets from certified producers

French company Jimini’s produces ready-to-eat whole insects and energy bars made with cricket flour. Their whole-insects range features dehydrated crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms seasoned at their workshop in Paris. Their energy bars are made with 100% European cricket flour. Jimini’s work closely with certified European producers that are compliant with European authority standards, hence guaranteeing quality and traceability.

Check it out: https://www.jiminis.com/

5. Insect protein powder for big gains

Mophagy’s cricket-based products are perfect for those who lead an active lifestyle. Their cricket protein powder is an excellent alternative protein source for aiding in sports and muscle recovery. Mophagy also recently collaborated with DuPont to create a chocolate fudge ice-cream with white chocolate coating made with their cricket powder. We got to try some at the Insect Bar during London Food Tech Week 2016 and crikey, it was delicious.

6. Reinventing Italian pasta with Thai crickets

What better to complement One Hop Kitchen’s cricket and mealworm bolognese than Bugsolutely’s cricket pasta? Made up of 20% cricket flour, the pasta has a deep nutty flavour. When served up aglio olio style at the Insect Bar, you could hardly tell you had bugs in your pasta! Although the founder Massimo hails from Milan, their company is based in Thailand where crickets were first produced for human consumption and eating insects are commonplace.

Check it out: http://www.bugsolutely.com/

7. Energy protein bars made with cricket flour

Exo makes cricket flour energy protein bars targeted at CrossFitters, gym bugs and those who lead an active lifestyle. Based in Brooklyn, USA, Exo first tested early demand and response to their product through crowdfunding on Kickstarter and at their local CrossFit gym. Response on both platforms were overwhelming and needless to say, the rest is history.

Check it out: https://exoprotein.com