Diners to be Dished Up Great Grub

Diners to be Dished Up Great Grub

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday 13th June 2016

A lucky selection of Christchurch diners will be served up dishes of insects on Wednesday night.

The sold-out dinner is hosted by plant-centric chef Alex Davies at Space Academy as part of the bi-weekly Gatherings series. It will feature a range of tasty dishes, all featuring insects of various kinds.

“I’ve been trialing some tasty combinations including Tempura Locusts with Celeriac, as well as Pickled Mushrooms and Cricket Gravy,” says Davies.

Those insects are being supplied by Christchurch startup Grub Supply, which was founded in April during the local Startup Weekend in which teams have 54 hours to launch new companies.

“Humans are facing a challenge around food security and sustainability,” says co-founder Peter Randrup, who’s joined by seven other co-founders.

“We have united around this problem and believe edible insects will play a major role in the future food mix. Bugs are good for your health, good for your pocket, and good for the planet.”

Insects require far fewer resources to grow than the equivalent amount of meat or dairy protein, or even popular vegetarian substitutes like soybeans. Many are also richer in vitamins, minerals, and good fats than other protein sources are.

“And most importantly; they taste great,” says chef Davies, who switched his focus to plant based foods to reduce his environmental footprint because meat and dairy products require many times the amount of water and resources that vegetables do.

“My question to my dinner guests on Wednesday is: ‘If you’re vegetarian for environmental reasons, is it ok to eat insects?’ I think it is.”

“The diners are in for a treat: a 3 course meal, all containing bugs. I guarantee they’ll be blown away by the taste and environmental credentials of the insects.”

Grub Supply is currently trialling a range of products including ants, locusts, huhu grubs and cricket flour: basically ground up crickets which can be used in a wide range of dishes from cakes to omelettes.

The ants are used as a garnish and are loaded with flavour. “They taste of Kaffir lime with a hint of coriander and a blue cheese aftertaste,” says Davies.

The locusts taste like freshwater prawns and are high in protein, minerals and vitamins. Along with their significantly lower carbon footprint, the farmed locusts require much less water and grass than traditional meat sources.

Randrup says there’s a solid business case behind his company too, not just a strong environmental vision.

The culinary and nutrition insect harvesting industry has been doubling in the United States every year since 2010. It’s growing quickly in Australia and is now establishing itself in New Zealand.

“We are targeting wholesale customers through restaurants first, because we need to help people understand that insects are delicious when prepared properly. From there, we hope to grow our direct-to-consumer sales too.”

And the startup has made good headway, signing on Roots Restaurant in Lyttelton as its first customer. The 2015 Cuisine Magazine Restaurant of the Year sources ants from Grub Supply for its ever-changing menu.

“People are loving the ants. This is the beginning of something amazing,” says Roots Restaurant owner Giulio Sturla.

ENDS

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