It’s the fourth annual World Edible Insect Day, and it appears New Zealand is finally starting to change its attitude toward insect farming. Chain restaurant Mexico now offers cricket flour tortillas, Auckland Zoo distributed ant-sprinkled cocktails, and Eat Crawlers has repackaged their edible insects for supermarkets instead of niche stores.
Insects have long been consumed for their nutritional benefits in many countries around the world. With the increasing struggle to farm consistently thanks to climate change, insects are fast becoming a reliable source of protein for the foodservice industry.
Crickets contain all nine amino acids, so are a great source of protein. 100g of cricket contains 68g of protein, compared to the 25g of protein found in 100g of chicken. Edible insects have higher protein levels than beef, more iron than kale, and comparable levels of B1 and B2 to spirulina. More excitingly, they require fewer resources to farm: it takes 21,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef, and just one litre to produce one kilogram of cricket.
Eat Crawlers is engaging consumers with its salted caramel scorpions, ant lollipops, and salted cricket mixes, proving that insects can be exciting, not just nutritious and sustainable.
Anyone in foodservice interested in experimenting with edible insects can purchase from Eat Crawlers' website today at 20 percent off. Use the code EDIBLEINSECTDAY at checkout.
