Progress 07/01/23 to 02/29/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Mighty Cricket's target audience for its retail protein products includes men and women between the ages of 25-49. Buyers tend to be health and/or environmentally conscious and live an outdoor active lifestyle. Many of the buyers are performance athletes, competing in running, biking, skiing, and swimming competitions. They are looking for the following product attributes: convenient, high protein, low sugar, and organic. These consumers are willing to pay more for a product if they perceive it as healthier and it saves them time. The Company ships direct-to-consumer through online channels, primarily Amazon and MightyCricket.com. Mighty Cricket also wholesales cricket meal (aka cricket flour), targeting foodservice companies, human food manufacturers, and pet food manufacturers. University foodservice providers are a great audience, as college students are seeking alternative protein sources. Bakeries are another great application for wholesaling cricket flour, which incorporates well into breads. Finally pet food manufacturers such as Purina are turning to alternative proteins as a healthier and more sustainable protein for dog food. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the research have been shared with fellow US-based cricket farmers, including and newly opened farm in Hawaii. Results have also been shared to St. Louis-based agtech researchers and R&D personnel at pet food manufacturers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective #1: Divert Nutrients from Landfills by Identifying Pre-Consumer Waste as Potential Cricket Feed Through Partnerships with Local Manufacturers Major Activities Completed: Established partnerships with local food manufacturers within a 30-mile radius of the cricket farm. Conducted a comprehensive analysis of pre-consumer waste streams to identify suitable waste for cricket feed. Secured commitments for a steady supply ofwaste containing essential nutrients. Data Collected: Researchers cataloged free pre-consumer food waste in the Greater St. Louis Region. Waste was analyzed based on nutrition profiles, volumes, consistency, and stability at room temperature. The teamsecured 11,000lbs of viable waste in a 13-mile radius of the pilot farm. Discussion of Results: Mighty Cricket successfully secured 11,000 lbs of waste per week within a 15 mile radius, well surpassing the target amount of 3,125 lbs within a 30 mile radius. The 11,000 lbs excludes food waste determined unfit as cricket feed. This achievement is highly promising, indicating ample opportunities to secure even more waste as the farming operation expands. Doubling the radius more than doubles the amount of food that can be collected, demonstrating a scalable approach with marginal additional collection costs. Observations collected during the farming process revealed valuable insights about how the different waste streams affected the crickets. The first category was fresh produce collected from grocery stores and cafes. This included apple, avocado, banana, bell pepper, carrot, cauliflower, cilantro, cucumber, garlic, green chili pepper, button mushroom, parsley, red and white onion, spaghetti squash, and tomatoes. All of this produce was readily consumed by the crickets. While the crickets grew to adulthood and laid eggs, their wings were affected and the eggs failed to hatch. The researchers concludedthat this category of conventional produce contained Insect Growth Regulator (IGRs) in sufficient quantities to produce deformed and sterile crickets. The IGRs limit the usefulness of this food source in long-term cricket farming. The second waste category consisted of meats and dairy. This category proved challenging to collect and process into shelf-stable feed due to its high fat and moisture content, leading to spoilage of the feed within a few days. The crickets initially gravitated toward this food waste, likely for its high protein content, but after a few days turned to other food sources. Researchers suspected this was due to spoilage of the feed. No growth deformities were noted from this waste category. The third category, breads (i.e. loaves, waffles, muffins), provided the most suitable balance in terms of growth and ease of processing. The crickets consumed the bread waste with minimal deformities and layed viable eggs. The second generation of crickets hatched without visible deformities and grew at a pace consistent with the first generation. Researchers observed that breads containing more ingredients such as waffles were consumed at higher rates than white bread loaves made with 3-5 ingredients. Phase I determined that the third category was the most economically viable option for Mighty Cricket. The bread waste collected were all shelf-stable at room temperature, eliminating the need for refrigerated transportation. Selecting for this category also reduces collection pickups to once a week instead of multiple times per week. Lastly, the study revealed that the breads category constituted the majority of food waste and exhibited the most consistent supply, facilitating the establishment of a reliable cricket feed supply chain with multiple vendors contributing to the same waste category. Key Outcomes: Change in Knowledge: Researchersdeveloped anunderstanding of the pre-consumer waste available in the Greater St. LouisRegion. The team learned which manufacturers sell their waste as by-products, which give them away for free as compost, and which dispose of their waste in landfills. Change in Action:By implementing a waste collection pickup system, Mighty Cricket is promoting change in actionof waste disposal practices, contributing to a reduction in the amount of food ending up in landfills. Change in Condition:Although not yet commercialized in Phase I, Mighty Cricket is working towards improving thesustainability of local agricultural operations by integrating waste-to-feed processes andsupporting environmental conservation efforts. Additionally, the Company is finding cheaper ways to manufacture healthy, sustainable protein sources. Utlimately these savings will be passed to the consumer, which will drive trial and adoption. Objective #2: Formulate a Cricket Feed from Waste Streams with a Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of 1.5 Major Activities Completed: Developed and tested various feed formulations. Conducted feeding trials to determine the optimal formulation for FCR. Analyzed cost efficiency of the formulated feed compared to market-available feed. Data Collected: Researchers collected the FCR from feeding trials, cost analysis of producing the cricket feed, and comparative cost data of market-available feed ($0.64/lb). Discussion of Results: The results from the second technical objective showed promising outcomes. Researchers added small trays of each processed waste from that category and let the crickets self-select between the various breads. Quick breads with additional sugars and flavors were favored nearly three times more than loaves of white breads. Additionally, growth of a bread-only diet was compared to growth of a bread plus soy protein isolate diet. FCR was measured at 5.54 and 3.09, respectively. The crickets that were supplied with the additional protein grew nearly twice as fast as the ones that fed only on bread waste. They self-selected the bread waste as the majority of their diet (58%). FCR of the control group using commercially available diets measured 4.21. The waste supplemented with commercially available soy protein isolate outperformed the commercially available diet in terms of FCR. Researchers believe the FCRs measured in Phase I are artificially inflated, as they observed crickets carrying feed on their bodies, spilling it from the trays, and scattering it around the habitat. This highlights a potential opportunity for innovations in feeding methods to minimize feed loss. Researchers understand that at small scale, normal losses in spillage will increase the error compared to farming at larger scale. Data gathered by Mighty Cricket from other farms during the Phase I research show a wide range of FCRs between 1.4-2.4. This suggests that even an FCR of 2 would be competitive with current cricket farming practices. However, because the majority of Mighty Cricket's feed is donated, an FCR of 3 remains economically attractive. Preliminary calculations from Phase I estimate that the price per pound to collect and process breads and baked goods waste falls between $0.10-$0.15. Even with a 15-20% inclusion of supplemental nutrition purchased at market rates, this represents a significant cost saving compared to the $0.64 per pound benchmark, particularly at scale. Key Outcomes: Change in Knowledge: Increased knowledge of effective feed formulations using pre-consumer waste, achieving desirable FCRs. Change in Condition: Lower production costs for cricket farming, promoting the scalability and commercialization of cricket protein as a sustainable food source.?
Publications
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