User:PloopsS/sandbox
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Key people | Daniel Novak, Michael Badea (Co-Founders) |
| Website | www www |
Crickstart Food Co. is a Canadian company that produces organic cricket-based food products, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec.[1] As of February 2018, Crickstart products are sold online in the U.S. and Canada and at 400 stores in Canada.[1] [2] In May 2018 Crickstart launched its products in the US market while at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago.[3]
Company History
Crickstart Food Co. was founded in 2016 by Daniel Novak.[1][2]
Products
Crickstart’s product mix includes 3 lines of cricket flour based food products: protein bars, crackers, and smoothie mixes.[2] The company’s bars come in a variety of flavors including cinnamon cardamom, chili chocolate, and lemon lime.[4] Crickstart crackers come in olive and chili flavors.[2]
Crickstart uses only certified organic ingredients, including organic Canadian farmed crickets.[1] All of Crickstart’s products are gluten free and dairy free.[1]
Crickets are an important source of essential fatty acids, and of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron and vitamin B12 [5]
Reception
In May 2018, Crickstart was awarded the bronze grand prize in the 2018 SIAL Innovation contest for its cricket-based protein bars.[6] Food marketing consultant and ambassador for SIAL’s innovation component, Isabelle Marquis, claimed the Crickstart bar is a “product with superb nutritional value, that is also delicious.”[2]
In a review of the Crickstart cinnamon cardamom bar for La Presse, food reviewer Marie Allard highlighted its “quality ingredients” such as hemp, seed butters, dates, and coconut sugar, citing that the bar provides “260 calories, 16 g of fat, 10 g of sugar, and 12 g of protein.”[2]
Criticism
In an article for the Globe and Mail, journalist Corey Mintz mentions Crickstart as one of the companies that are “lining up to sell insects [...] as an environmentally friendly cure-all.” However, the article argues that the "solution narrative - the marketing of insects as a panacea for health, resource and climate challenges - is misleading.”[4] Mintz cites PhD candidate Joshua Evans who challenges the qualification of insects as sustainable sources of protein.[2] According to Evans, “once production of edible insects is scaled up, the impact of feed, energy, processing and transportation will make bugs no more sustainable than conventional protein sources.” [4] Another issue associated with insect based foods is that of high labor costs and lack of scale.[4] However, CEO Daniel Novak explains to Mintz that “other agricultural industries are heavily automated and apply massive economies of scale… As people purchase these products, production volumes increase and new entrants come into the industry, prices will be driven down over the coming years.”[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "This Canadian food startup wants you to eat crickets. Here's why". Canadian Geographic. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Allard, Marie (8 March 2018). "Miam, un smoothie aux grillons !" [Yum, a cricket smoothie!] (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ "Stink bug jelly beans, cricket crackers are hot at Sweets & Snacks Expo, but how do they taste?". Chicago Tribune. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Why eating insects won't end world hunger". The Globe & Mail. 4 February 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ "Edible insects - Future prospects for food and feed security" (PDF). food and agriculture organization of the united nations. 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ "SIAL CANADA UNVEILS THE 2018 SIAL INNOVATION GRAND PRIZES!" (PDF). SIAL Canada. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.