Photo courtesy of Exo
In addition to natural ingredients like raw cacao, dates, almond butter, and coconut, the nutrient-dense snack bars each contain around 10% of cricket flour, made from about 25 ground-up crickets, according to Exo founders Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz.
Inspired by a United Nations report that said eating
The bars are quickly gaining buzz since Exo was posted to crowd-funding site
A $25 pledge will buy you six cricket-filled bars, which seems kind of expensive in the realm of energy and nutrition bars. Lewis expects the bars to sell for $2.60 once they make their way onto grocery store shelves, gyms, and other specialty stores.
Eighty percent of the world already eats insects. Western countries have long been the exception. And while creepy-crawlies are still far off from regularly being served to American and European diners, the recent graduates hope to make at least a few bug-eating converts with their super-healthy snack.
Photo courtesy of Exo
Crickets also seemed like an easier sell than some of the larger, but more protein-rich bugs, like the dung beetle, explained Lewis.
As far as bugs go, crickets are not only high in protein, they are also a rich source of iron, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Crickets are good for the environment, too. When compared to other protein-rich foods, like cows or chicken, insects use less water and produce less greenhouse gases than livestock.
Currently, the duo is making the cricket flour themselves in a space they rent in a commercial kitchen. The house crickets are trucked to Brooklyn from a cricket farm located on the east coast. The lively insects are immediately frozen, which keep them fresh, and then slowly roasted before they are crushed into a powder. "It's 100% cricket," says Lewis.
Photo courtesy of Exo
The bars have been "described as tasting like a healthy brownie or having a rocky-road flavor," said Sewitz.
Exo's founders understand the psychological barrier. They are hoping a nutritionally-superior product that is also yummier compared to other bars on the market will quell some of the natural hesitancy.
In addition to the revolutionary use of protein, "the taste is better than most or all protein bars," said Lewis.