When you mention crickets many Vietnamese people will remember growing up with exciting stories by To Hoai, especially his book Diary of a Cricket, which was published 70 years ago.  The cricket, named Men, leaves home to go on an adventure and even today children love reading about all of the characters he meets on his journey.

Tasty treat: Dough is rolled to make the cricket cookies.

Eating crickets, on the other hand, may seem a little strange to most people.

A group of four young graduates from Da Nang’s University of Economics had the idea of making safe food from crickets.  They established the Demeater Food JSC (DFC) and have been successfully selling products since January this year, including cookies made from crickets.

“Crickets mostly eat safe grass.  Green leaves which have been treated with insecticides can kill them.  Moreover, crickets are very nutritional.  So we believe that the crickets can be a safe and healthy food for everyone,” said Nguyen Huu Dat, a representative of the group.

In January this year, many attendees at the ‘Weekend Makes Changes’ fair, organised by the Viet Nam-UK Institute for Research and Executive Education, couldn’t hide their surprise at the ‘cookies made from crickets’, created by the Demeater Food JSC (DFC).

The entrepreneurs worked with chef Tuan Hilton, who is known for making pastry, to make quality cookies that combined cricket flour and the taste of European cookies.

Hard at work: The young graduates in the kitchen, making their cricket cookies.

In order to ensure a sufficient supply of crickets, the company has cooperated with the Sigma cricket farm in Hoa Vang District, the biggest cricket farm in the city, which can provide up to 200kg of fresh crickets everyday.

Currently, their products are only sold in the domestic market.

Dat said that many people are still hesitant about eating insects, but once they learn about the nutritional value of the insects they soon become fans.

“While eating insects has grown in Europe or America, it’s still a new concept in Viet Nam, so it is very difficult for us to convince our clients,” Dat said.

“At the beginning, when I first heard about cookies made from crickets, I was surprised and couldn’t believe people liked them.  I was not ready to try them because I had never eaten insects. I was pleasantly surprised.  Cricket cookies are very delicious,” said Mai Ngoc Thanh, a client at Da Nang Souvenirs&Café shop on Bach Dang, where the product is sold.

A novel idea: The group of four young graduates from Da Nang’s University of Economics with some of their cricket-based products.

Speaking at the seminar to promote start-up projects organised by the Da Nang Department of Science and Technology in May, Tran Vu Nguyen, director of Da Nang Business Incubator (which supports the project) said: “Making cookies from crickets is a very audacious and creative startup idea.  The originality and the quality of the product can attract the market.  Demeater JSC is a pioneering startup in Viet Nam in the development of clean food from insects,” he said.

Presently, the company’s products are available for sale at the TuanHilton shop on Hoang Dieu Street and Da Nang Souvenirs&Café.

Dat said that the company would like to make new products from crickets and expand the business into other localities nationwide, and into European and American markets in the years ahead.

(Source: VNS)