Award-winning crackers made with crickets ??

Due to the presence of more and more consumers concerned about nutrition and environmental health, the advantages of using insects, especially crickets, for the development of new food are several. Edible insects have an extremely reduced footprint and contain more protein than beef, more calcium than milk, more vitamin B12 than red meat, more iron than spinach, more omega-3 than salmon, more fibre than brown rice, more potassium than bananas and all 9 essential amino acids. So we decided to take advantage of all the benefits offered by crickets and develop the first line ever of insect-based crackers together with the friends of Small Giants !

Key Results

• We developed the first insect-based products winning the Great Taste Award. The crackers have recently also surpassed 100 positive reviews on the company website.
• We helped the client with the selection of the best flavors to launch the crackers, mastering sensory and market data.
• We provided technical support to the co-manufacturer throughout the NPD process to ensure the crackers could be produced respecting the client's requirements and deadlines.

Summary of the services provided

• Management and coordination of the whole NPD process
• Ingredient sourcing and technical support to selected co-manufacturer
• Product fine-tuning based on customers feedback
• Cost optimization

Scientific R&D and Product Development

The major challenge was understanding how the addition of cricket powder (which contains a very high 70% protein) impacts the overall product characteristics. We paid a lot of attention to the development of the best possible sensory characteristics, with emphasis on crispiness; a feature that was highlighted by the famous newspaper The Telegraph -Vote: 8/10!. But this is not the only feedback the crackers received, as we have recently surpassed 100 positive comments from the company's website.

A large number of tests and prototypes were carried out with a wide audience of consumers which contributed to the selection of final product adjustments before commercialization, which helped us to conclude that the most optimal amount of cricket powder to add is 15%. Furthermore, it was also demonstrated that the addition of specific starches was beneficial for the product performance and some changes in the fermentation step contributed to obtaining an ideal product. In order to obtain the best organoleptic characteristics, we applied the penalty analysis method. We selected the best flavors based on market data, focus groups, one-on-one interviews with consumers and suggestions from ingredient suppliers. This, together with close collaboration with the co-manufacturer, enabled us to launch a range of three different flavours, two of which won a star in the prestigious UK award for the best product launched every year (Thyme & Rosemary and Turmeric & Smoked Paprika flavours), the Great Taste Award.

Ingredient sourcing, scale-up and industrialization

Once the prototypes were prototyped and the product formulation was ready, we translated the bench-top formula into a manufacturing environment and ensured that both the industrialization process and the ingredients included in the formulation were as cost-effective as possible. To do this, for corrective action, we evaluate different ingredient suppliers, provided by both the co-manufacturer and the customer, based on costs, labelling and other performance-related requirements that ensured the delivery of the highest quality and cost-effective product based on customer preferences. In addition, we also ensured that the industrialization process run as smoothly as possible and we provided all the necessary technical suggestions based on our in-depth knowledge and experience in the sector.