Tokushima adds local cricket-based food to their hometown tax program

Edible crickets are gaining attention as a possible future alternative food. Japanese startup Gryllus Inc. in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, has been working on the development of food products using crickets since its establishment in 2019. The unique company started at Tokushima University and is now promoting their cricket products as a sustainable, ecological option for Japan’s hometown tax program, otherwise known as “Furusato Nozei” in Japanese. From November 25, five types of their C.TRIA products that are made using cricket powder—including cricket cookies and cricket curry—are now available on Tokushima’s hometown tax program’s reward item list.

The people at Gryllus noticed that crickets contain a lot of protein, minerals, and dietary fiber. In addition, crickets are also known for their speed in growth, taking only about a month to fully mature. Compared to other livestock, insects, in general, require a small amount of food and water to produce protein. Furthermore, cultivating crickets emits fewer greenhouse gases, making crickets a protein source with a low environmental impact. Crickets are an especially omnivorous type of insect, so there is a wide selection of food to choose from to feed them. This means that they can even be bred from the kind of unsellable vegetables from farming production lines that usually go to waste all over the world.

Many countries, including Japan, generate 1.3 billion tons of food loss annually, which is about one-third of the food produced in the world. Meanwhile, according to a United Nations report published in June 2019, the world population is expected to increase by 2 billion, from the current 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion, in the next 30 years. It is believed that the rapid population growth will cause hunger and food issues, such as malnutrition and a lack of animal protein intake. Edible crickets are expected as one solution for solving both these issues; food loss and food shortage.

Gryllus Inc. has turned a closed elementary school in Mima City into Mima Farm—a new production base for mass-producing cricket powder. It hopes their nutritious cricket products will become a food of the future—a “circular food” necessary for building a future sustainable society. It also seeks to contribute to the region by creating jobs and promoting environmental education in Tokushima.