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BUSINESS
By: Tony Fe
COMMUN
ITY
SPOTLIGHT
derico
A
The Spice Islands
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“The word
‘entomoph
or éntomo
n, meaning agy’ derives from
the
referring to
, ‘insect(e
d),’ literally Greek term éntomo
an insect’s
me
s,
Combine
segmente
d, the two
d body, an aning ‘cut in two,’
terms me
d phăgein
an, ‘insect
, ‘to eat.’
—“What
eating.’”
is Entomo
s a student
phagy?”, their packaging
of Econom had played up this aspect, plastering
Philosophyventures ics and
Insectsare
at Brown Uni
food.com
Gabi Lewis with images of insects, but Lewis and Sewitz wanted
versity,
expecte
roomm
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
d that his
ate,
life after gra
to do something different, they wanted to makeand current business par
duation wou
Sewitz, an
ld
involve wor
tner, Greg
ordered 2,0
fund
fund or a larg
king at a hed
00 live cric
insect farm
e financial impact on the way people eat, and that would mean
ge
kets from
in Lou “Industrial livestock wreaks havoc on
institution.
did he rea
an
lize that the
Little
bringing insect eating into the mainstream. Tointernet for rec isiana. They searched the
do
course wou
dramatical
ipes “Ba
the. environment. Insects, on the other
ld
ly shift than
the
ks to this, they needed to provide a “proof of concept” crickets to clea sically we boiled
Well, 2,00
a cricket.
0 to be
n them, roa
hand, produce virtually no methane,
the
“There is rea exact.
to would-be investors, something they hoped a of m in the oven to remove sted
the mo reproduce most
insect eating lly no precedent for
quickly and require minimal
in the UK,”
KickStarter crowdfunding campaign would provide.m in aisture, and then blended
the
a native of
said Lewis,
Vitamix,” said
food, wateris.
Scotland,
the
Lew and space.”
“I had eaten several months of preparation, they launched n combine
After
some inse
“We
d the cricket
cts while trav
almond but
—Exo.co
flour with
ellin their KickStarter with an initial funding goal of
America, but
ter, some
I was really g in South
dates, and
little bit of
by reading
a UN report motivated
$20,000. “In just three days we reached our funding frie honey and brought thea
to our
on
of insect agr
m
nds at the
iculture.” Lew the benefits
CrossFit gym
eve
goal.
is and his There was a tremendous amount of interest rybody loved the
;
then
m!”
The pair rea
and we eventually raised $55,000 dollars and presold 20,000that
lized
have to con
they would
vince people
bars,” said Lewis. EXO had arrived.
bar was mo
that their cric
re than just
ket
a novelty.
According to the EPA, animal feeding operations
Similar
WHERE THE NUTMEG GREW
significantly impact water and air quality. Manure runs into
rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water with high
levels of nitrogen and phosphorous. Via their “emissions,”
cattle in particular are especially good at producing methane, a
greenhouse gas. By contrast, insects are much more efficient
at converting food into high quality protein, with far less waste
and environmental impacts.
Thanks to the pet business (reptiles in particular) as well
as fisherman who use crickets for bait, there is a pre-existing
infrastructure for insect agriculture. EXO is partnering with
such companies to develop facilities for raising crickets
specifically for human consumption. While crickets are
naturally omnivorous and capable of eating just about
anything, these facilities will utilize organic feeds to ensure the
highest quality product.
So insects are sustainable, but are they nutritious? So far
GABI LEW the evidence is promising. “The research that has been done
IS AND GRE
G SEW insects are
suggests thatITZ, CO-FOU very high in omega-3 fatty acids,”
26 Apr/Ma
NDERS
y 2014
said Lewis. “Gram for gram, AND CO-CEOS OF EXO
.
the iron and calcium content
HOW GERMS CAN BE YOUR
of cricket protein is higher than
“Insects are exceptionally nutritious. They
CHILD’S BEST FRIEND
beef and this comes without
are high in protein and low in fats and
the same concerns as beef
carbohydrates. They are a complete protein,
agriculture.”
containing all the essential amino acids,
EXO is currently gearing
and are also high in micronutrients such as
up for its first large scale
iron, calcium and B-vitamins. Crickets, for
production run with the goal
example, contain more iron than beef.”
of being available online and
—Exo.co
in stores by mid-2014. “The
s
es into full-grown fern
website will initially be the best
they extend their leav
ed time in
-inch spirals. Before
place to buy EXO bars,” one
said
available for a limit
coile “We are alsoate
t
ause they
tightlyLewis. d into delic targeting physical locations like CrossFit are only
but the
g ferns
of ferns
pe and Asia. Bec
Fiddleheads are youn
re are many varieties
in North America, Euro and arou grocers.”
gyms, coffee shops, juice bars, ketsnaturalnd the country. The
and nutritious treat
mar
they exist as a wild
delicacy at farmers
a rareThe initial line up of EXO bar flavors ‒ Cacao Nut, Peanut
considered
.
early spring they are
Butteris the Ostrich Fern Ginger Moroccan Spice ‒ were
and Jelly, and Cashew
d in farmers markets
developed with the help of culinary adviser Kyle Connaughton.
one most often foun
Connaughton was the former head of R&D at the Fat Duck, an
is best
esteemed British restaurant famous for pushing the creative
are the same an