Twenty years ago the very notion that raw fish would not only succeed on the UK high street but secure iconic supermarket status within Waitrose & Sainsburys would have been greeted with wide-eyed incredulity, even disdain and yet a growing appreciation for World Cuisine and constantly evolving food perceptions means that thankfully today’s ‘food innovation goalposts’ are forever moving.

Today, insect food is the latest HOT food trend to come under the spotlight and the background facts make compelling reading:

• Entomophagy is anything but a food marketing wheeze with some 2bn people worldwide (Asia, Africa & Latin America) regularly consuming an eclectic blend of bugs; be that deep-fried locusts or fried weaver ants (Mod Daeng) in Thailand or large flying ants (Chicatanas) in Mexico, to steamed silkworm pupae in South Korea (Beondegi) OR stewed bee larvae in Japan (Hachinoko). 

• Low carb crickets can contain as much as 69% protein and in many parts of the world are deemed a more ethical, not to mention sustainable means of securing one’s daily protein fix.

• Better than that, edible insects are rich in fibre, beneficial B vitamins, omega 3s, calcium, selenium & even zinc!

• Some ‘Planet Custodians’ worried about the wider environmental impact of eating traditional meats see edible insects as a ‘superfood’ saviour with a significantly smaller carbon footprint than old-school livestock, which emits a fraction of the greenhouse gases & ammonia whilst needing a 1/6th less feed than cattle (or 50% less than chickens & pigs) to generate the same amount of protein.

• Edible insects could also be pivotal to reversing relentless forest deforestation since they require only a fraction of the land and water required to harvest traditional plant harvests.

• Edible low carb insects are also seen by many Western food luminaries as a key strand in the ongoing fight against child obesity.

• It’s also worth noting that the global edible insect market is set to exceed £430m by 2023. This is why in 2018 the European Food Safety Authority set out its first tentative roadmap to bring consistent quality assurance and transparency standards to proceedings with yellow mealworms becoming the 1st insect to secure EU ‘fit for human consumption’ status in 2021. 

AND YET for all this irresistible evidence around good nutrition and environmental advantages, there remains a frustrating ‘yuck barrier’ to navigate, which is why stealth has become the key tool when it comes to winning over Western taste buds. 

• In 2021 Small Giant crackers (available in tomato & oregano, rosemary & thyme and turmeric & smoked paprika) has used a clever combination of wheat & cricket flour to not only deliver 9g of protein per pack but secure Great Taste Awards and a game-changing Future Brands listing with Sainsbury’s. 

• There’s a Danish firm Femten Farekyllinger (15 Crickets) that manufactures a tangy apple-ginger shot enriched with cricket protein.

• Bug Farm Food Choc Chip Cricket Cookies offer all the chewy, chocolatey joy one demands from an indulgent cookie but with the equivalent of 20 crickets tucked deep below the sweet chocolate.

• Bug-centric snack bars are also on the march courtesy of crunchy bug enthusiasts like Eat Grub & Jungle bar whilst Cricket Dark Ale is a head-turning dark ale made in Japan with a chocolatey/coffee aroma and rich caramel undertones that’s been made from roasted crickets fed on fermenting brewing sediment.

• In Australia Innovator Beer, is rapidly making a name for itself as the perfect ‘bar crawl’ lager having being made with ground crickets and dried black soldier fly larvae that allegedly provides not only an unmistakable nutty twang but some welcome protection against the inevitable debilitating hangover that follows.

• Even dog food is getting in on the act with Yora, whose grub-based recipes are deemed not only trail-blazing and hypoallergenic but particularly pertinent to dogs who’ve suffered with sensitive stomachs OR historical digestive issues. 

Latest stats certainly suggest that one 1/3rd of Brits already believe that insects will be an intrinsic element of our daily diets by 2029 but for now at least it’s finely milled insect flours devoid of quivering antennae and stringy legs seems the best way to appreciate our six-legged friends.