Bugs for Breakfast? Silicon Valley Techies Chow Down on Crickets Marisa Kendall - East Bay Times
go to original August 13, 2016

For Bay Area techies attuned to the latest trends, kale is no longer cutting it and quinoa is passé. Instead, many are opting for a six-legged snack.

In startup offices around the region, people are munching on crickets.

Proponents say the tiny, chirping bugs are high in protein and iron and can serve as a sustainable alternative to beef or chicken. It's a movement that has people buzzing, with companies such as San Francisco-based Bitty Foods baking the bugs into cookies and chips, Tiny Farms in San Leandro breeding crickets for mass consumption, and New York-based Exo using them in protein bars. The products are showing up in Silicon Valley break rooms, and investors and entrepreneurs are paying close attention.

"I would say there's a new company that launches every six months, maybe even more frequently than that," said Exo co-founder Greg Sewitz.

Eating insects is nothing new. Fried grasshoppers, or chapulines, are a favorite in Mexico, and pushcarts offering everything from crickets to silk worms line the streets of Thailand. But companies trying to market them in the U.S. must confront the squeamishness most Westerners feel about bugs.

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