There has been lots of talk about the current tech bubble or lack thereof. Valuations have gone over the roof and money. When we are hunting for flashy unicorns, there might be many hidden ugly ducklings with lots of potential.
One can´t help but wonder that many of the new start-ups seem to be just over glorified pizza delivery services that work on your mobile phone. Although drones, virtual reality and wearables are sexy, majority of the start-ups working in the sexy side of things are just flash of the pan.
Money is where boring is.
That is why I would turn my focus to food for the next growing category. Regardless of the latest iterations of iPhone, the last time I checked, all the people still need to eat. Every one of us have to eat to live, but to make some better margins there are quite a few people who are living to eat as well. Today´s food trend is tomorrow´s food mainstream.
The next growing food category is bugs, crickets, grasshoppers and other insects. As you might have heard, the insects might be the solution for the growing demand of food. Eating insects on various forms makes perfect sense:
- They are high on protein, which is right fit for current paleo-crazed western world
- Glutein-free, another important thing in current western diet
- They are more environmentally friendly and sustainable than cows, although naturally there is some debate about the sustainability
- Still they are animals and not some weird “food”-like substance
- There is a slight element of fear factor still in it. Eat it while it is at least slightly extreme.
There is currently couple of interesting insect protein start-ups originated from Kickstarter. Both use cricket flour in their insect protein bars: Jungle Bar and Exo Protein. Bars are one thing, but I recommend eating insects also. Little bit of butter and salt, spider to the pan and you have perfect dish.
My first encounter with fried tarantula in Cambodia 2008
If you scorn on eating ants and spiders, it is good to remember that lobsters were once considered as “the cockroaches of the sea”.
Stand-Up Strategy 