Finnish food company Fazer has launched a range of bread made from cricket flour as it aims to provide a new source of sustainable nutrition.
Called Fazer Sirkkaleipä (Fazer cricket bread), the products have gone on sale in 11 Fazer bakeries today, following months of development.
The crickets are dried and ground into powder that is added to flour, with one loaf containing 70 house crickets. Fazer said that the crickets make up 3% of the weight of the bread.
Currently, there is not enough cricket flour available for the bread to go on sale across Finland, so the bread will be brought to the market in stages. The aim is for it to be available in all 47 Fazer in-store bakeries in Finland in the next wave.
Fazer Bakery Finland managing director Markus Hellström said: “We wanted to be in the forefront of food revolution. We want to boost growth in the bread category with hand-made artisanal bread.
“In the Fazer in-store bakeries, we can easily bake and test different kinds of novelties. The first-in-the-world Fazer cricket bread is a great example of this.”
Juhani Sibakov, director innovation at Fazer Bakery Finland, said: “We made a crunchy dough to enhance taste and increase mouthfeel. The result is delicious and nutritious. Cricket bread is a good source of protein. Insects also contain good fatty acids, calcium, iron and vitamin B12.”
He added: “Mankind needs new and sustainable sources of nutrition. According to research, of all the Nordic countries, Finns have the most positive attitudes towards insects. We are looking forward to seeing how our novelty bread is received.”
Earlier this year Swiss start-up Essento introduced a range of burgers and balls made from insects which went on sale in supermarket Coop.
At Anuga 2017 Micarna product manager Ralph Langholz spoke to FoodBev about the brand’s pop-bugs which are made from cricket flour as a protein source.
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