#Cricket bug full size

вЂњThe future is going to depend on how things go, but our aim is to find partners who will help us expand our ideas in other countries, and develop other lines with resources derived from crickets and other insects, such as frass for agricultural fertiliser, chitin and meat substitutes,вЂќ says GarcГa de Lis.

They hope to expand production to Latin America, starting with an organic range and diversifying into mealworms, spirulina and meat substitutes. A 200g pack of totopos, containing 40g of protein, is expected to cost в‚¬3.50 to в‚¬4 (ВЈ3 to ВЈ3.50).

The trio plan to sell flour and totopos from July. вЂњWe saved everything we could, but it was another massive outlay and we had to start over again and look for new cricket colonies that we liked in Murcia.вЂќ вЂњWe had to clean and disinfect everything because excess moisture breeds bacteria and fungus,вЂќ says GarcГa de Lis. GarcГa de Lis, TГ©bar and Torres arrived at the factory to find the locks frozen and the pipes burst. They have sold around seven tonnes of frozen crickets so far вЂ“ despite having to completely restock after Storm Filomena hit in January, bringing freezing temperatures and snowfalls not seen for 50 years. The flour is mixed with Mexican corn and used in tortillas and totopos. Once dried the insects can be eaten as snacks. The final stop on the insectsвЂ™ journey is the refrigeration room, where the freezing temperature ensures what GarcГa de Lis calls una muerte dulce: a sweet death.

#Cricket bug full size

Their initial investment of в‚¬15,000 (ВЈ13,000) each, supplemented by bank loans and grants, funded the climate-controlled industrial unit, with its breeding room, nursery and large, ever-so-slightly Cronenbergian growing space, where 300 tubs house the crickets as they grow to their full size of a little more than 2cm, fed on a diet of cereal, vegetables and the gentle and carefully calibrated drips of the irrigation system. вЂњOur families love us very much, but they must also have wondered if weвЂ™re mad. вЂњA lot of people have seen the potential in this others have said weвЂ™re mad,вЂќ says GarcГa de Lis. As well as being up to 70% protein, the animals contain iron, zinc, calcium and amino acids.ДЄnd yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, some in the town вЂ“ whose economy depends mainly on traditional forms of agriculture, as well as paint manufacturing and other industries вЂ“ questioned the wisdom of the enterprise. Their model is built around the humble cricket and its habitually overlooked nutritional benefits. вЂњWe looked at various things, from spirulina to other kinds of insects, but we ended up going for crickets for human consumption because itвЂ™s a young market which could be profitable.вЂќ вЂњWe were looking to start a business that was sustainable and profitable,вЂќ says GarcГa de Lis. The venture, based on the outskirts of the town of La Roda, near the city of Albacete, is the brainchild of three local childhood friends now in their early 30s: AndrГ©s GarcГa de Lis, Francisco JosГ© TГ©bar and JosГ© Antonio Torres.ДЇrom left: AndrГ©s GarcГa de Lis, JosГ© Antonio Torres and Francisco JosГ© TГ©bar вЂ“ Origen insect farm co-founders. Others will be dried and packaged as snacks, while the remainder will be frozen and shipped as animal feed. Some of the 250,000 young insects being grown in the 30C (86F) breeding room will be mixed with imported Mexican corn and reincarnated as tortillas or totopos (tortilla chips), seasoned with sesame or chipotle. A lot of people have seen the potential in this others have said weвЂ™re mad AndrГ©s GarcГa de Lis Over the course of each 35-day cycle, the farm produces three tonnes of crickets вЂ“ 80% of which are ground into protein-rich flour for culinary use, including pasta, snackbars and crackers. But while others focus on growing insects for pet food or animal feed, the Spanish startup has its antennae trained on the human market. The farm is one of a growing number of companies in Europe and elsewhere seizing on the protein possibilities of insects. But whatever Origen Farms lacks in land, tradition and rural romance, it aims to make up for in innovation, enthusiasm and resilience.ДЇounded almost two years ago, the business rears a single beast: Acheta domesticus, the house cricket. Plastic tubs, shelves and the insulated walls of a unit on a windswept industrial estate do the job perfectly well. T here are no gargantuan mastiffs or shepherds on quad bikes watching over the hundreds of thousands of newborn animals that tumble and crawl around an unlikely farm among the wind turbines, motorways and patchwork fields of this corner of Castilla-La Mancha, in central Spain.