What's your typical snack? Maybe you think immediately of chips and gwac, or perhaps crackers and hummus, but did any of you think of crickets? Well, a new company called Exo, created by two graduates from Brown University, makes protein bars using cricket flour. Co-founder, Gabi Lewis was looking for a protein bar that actually tasted good while Greg Sewitz, the other founder, had recently attended a conference about global warming and suggested crickets as an eco-friendly provider of protein for the bars. After brainstorming some more and putting some hard work into their idea, Exo was founded.
Exo bars are organic, all-natural, gluten/grain/soy/dairy free protein bars that contain 10grams of protein and are made in America. They currently come in three flavors: cacao nut, peanut butter & jelly, and cashew ginger moroccan spice, with more soon to come. In addition, the cricket flour in them has high amounts protein, all the necessary amino acids, and lots of micro nutrients such as iron and calcium. With all these pluses, however, you're probably questioning the taste. Well, Exo bars have been given great reviews, some people even say it's the best protein bar they've ever eaten.
Now you know about the heath and taste aspects of Exo bars, but how do they help the environment? For starters, crickets need less food, water, and space than cows, pigs, and sheep. In return, they reproduce much quicker and produce much less methane. Think of the 50% of human water and the 40% of land used for agriculture, eating crickets could help potentially solve these problems and Exo bars are just the first step!
Of course, crickets are gross, right?! I mean who would want to eat bugs? While this may be our current attitude to eating insects, around 80% of the world already eats them. This is an amount that could grow quickly. More and more people are growing accustomed to eating insects, especially if they're in tasty protein bars. What do you think, would you eat crickets?
Exo bars are organic, all-natural, gluten/grain/soy/dairy free protein bars that contain 10grams of protein and are made in America. They currently come in three flavors: cacao nut, peanut butter & jelly, and cashew ginger moroccan spice, with more soon to come. In addition, the cricket flour in them has high amounts protein, all the necessary amino acids, and lots of micro nutrients such as iron and calcium. With all these pluses, however, you're probably questioning the taste. Well, Exo bars have been given great reviews, some people even say it's the best protein bar they've ever eaten.
Now you know about the heath and taste aspects of Exo bars, but how do they help the environment? For starters, crickets need less food, water, and space than cows, pigs, and sheep. In return, they reproduce much quicker and produce much less methane. Think of the 50% of human water and the 40% of land used for agriculture, eating crickets could help potentially solve these problems and Exo bars are just the first step!
Of course, crickets are gross, right?! I mean who would want to eat bugs? While this may be our current attitude to eating insects, around 80% of the world already eats them. This is an amount that could grow quickly. More and more people are growing accustomed to eating insects, especially if they're in tasty protein bars. What do you think, would you eat crickets?
Still, there are cons to Exo bars. The first main one is that their product could change. If they decide to edit just one thing in their bar, it could effect something as small as size to something as large as taste. Also, they rely on other companies to provide them with crickets, publicity, etc... and if anything happens to one of these providers it could potentially effect Exo. Finally, it is possible they will have to extend the shipping date if problems occur. While these can be dealt with, they, like all companies, are always going to have their problems.
So now you're interested, but how can you help? Well they need donations from eager supporters to help sponsor Exo. Right now they have two money goals: a) to raise $50,000 so they can produce bars faster, etc.. and start focusing more on new ideas (ie. flavors) and b) to raise $20,000 so they can make their first group of commercially produced Exo bars. With your help, this idea can become reality. Obviously you don't have to donate, but you can open your eyes to the idea of Exo bars, and that by itself, will make a difference.
For more information, check out https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/exoprotein/exo-protein-bars-made-from-cricket-flour or their official website http://exo.co/
Next week: Strawless?
that. is. awesome. everyone eats at least 23 'big' bugs in their sleep per year..... cool right? when i was camping once, i met a girl nicknamed 'bird', and we caught crickets,and ate them.... its so cool
ReplyDeleteHey Danya, do you know how much an Exo bar would cost? Like, I've heard of really cool inventions like glow-in-the-dark ice cream but it costs like $200...so, just wondering.
ReplyDeleteA twelve pack costs 36$ in any flavor, so about 3$ per each. You can actually pre-order some right now if you're interested at http://www.exo.co/.
DeleteBy the way, I saw that article in the Science New, too...I thought it was such a good idea and then I looked at the price...nothing more needs to be said :)