Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Mighty Cricket co-founders Adam Kronk and Sarah Schlafly
The idea to create cricket-based food products hatched in Sarah Schlafly’s head four years before she launched her food company, Mighty Cricket.
“I wasn’t convinced it was a viable idea,” says Schlafly. That was, until she and partner Adam Kronk began speaking in 2017 about cricket protein at venues such as Venture Cafe. “I learned immediately that the idea has two very important traits: It’s memorable, and it’s naturally viral.”
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Chocolate cricket protein balls
So she and Kronk started prototyping. They were pleasantly surprised to find that one in two St. Louisans are willing to try insects.
“We kept getting the suggestion to take our idea to the coasts,” says Schlafly, “but I insisted that St. Louisans are very food knowledgeable and we could create a market here.”
Last fall, Mighty Cricket rolled out its first products: oatmeal and plain protein powder. Its offerings have since expanded to include various flavors of those two products, as well as waffle and pancake mix.
“The big picture is to make cricket protein mainstream,” says Schlafly. “It’s a superfood—in addition to protein, it’s packed with iron, calcium, and B12—and it requires a fraction of the resources to grow.”
She envisions making it equitable as well, not only as a solution to malnutrition and hunger in third world areas, but also as a sought-after ingredient in mainstream restaurants and smoothie bars.
That’s one reason that Mighty Cricket is launching the #CricketChallenge this fall. Throughout the month of October, local eateries are creating special dishes and drinks with the cricket protein powder. St. Louisans who participate in the challenge can order these items, take a picture of themselves trying the dishes, and be entered into a drawing to win gift cards and prizes. At the same time, they’ll be making a positive environmental impact.
“In November, we’ll measure the environmental impact made by swapping protein sources in each of these meals for insect-based protein,” says Schlafly. “Because crickets have such a lean environmental impact, we can make a real difference. And we’ll be telling this story nationally to spotlight St. Louis as a hub of culinary and environmental innovation.”
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Photography courtesy of Mighty Cricket
Courtesy Rooster
Some of the other special items already lined up for the #CricketChallenge include chocolate cricket popcorn at Kirkwood Pop Co., cricket guacamole at Amigos Cantina, a special cricket topping offered at froYo locations throughout the region, energy bites at Fiddlehead Fern Cafe, and pistachio ice cream at Rooster's South Grand location. All of the restaurants under the Hamilton Hospitality banner will be developing dishes for the promotion, including Shallot-Cricket butter and a Mighty Cricketini at Hamilton Urban Steakhouse & Bourbon Bar and cricket-powder-dusted sautéed mushrooms in puff pastry at Eleven Eleven Mississippi.
A full map of participating restaurants can be found at mightycricket.co. New restaurants and menu items will be added over the coming weeks.
