Czech supermarket runs with cricket flour offer

Penny Market is the first supermarket chain in the Czech Republic to sell bread made of cricket flour, news website Aktualne.cz reported on Wednesday.

Photo: Penny Market

The bread, made of cricket flour ground from the dried insects as well as wheat flour and seeds, contains more protein than normal bread. Each loaf contains about 200 crickets and costs 50 crowns. The bread will be sold in all of the Penny Market’s 347 stores. The chain also offers protein bars made of cricket flour.

“We are following current trends. This is why we came up with this exclusive offer of products made of cricket flour. These products are only on sale temporarily. Our customers will decide if they become part of our regular offer,” Penny Market’s marketing specialist Monika Lebedová told Aktuálně.

Penny Market has approached Czech company SENS Foods, which is operating a cricket farm in Thailand. The mixture is than processed in the Czech Republic by Hradecké pekárny bakeries.

“The advantage of cricket flour is that it has no taste and can be added to various products,” co-owner of SENS Food Radek Hušek told the website, adding that his company is currently negotiating with supermarket chains in other European countries.

Thanks to a growing interest in edible bugs, SENS Food is planning to enlarge their farm in Thailand. Within the next few months it will be able to produce up to 3.5 tonnes of cricket flour a month, becoming the second biggest producer of its kind in the world.

Last year, Finland became the first country to sell bread made of cricket flour and was soon followed by other European countries. Unlike the bread sold in Finland, which only contains about two percent of crickets, the Czech bread contains around 10 percent bugs.

The demand for edible bugs is growing particularly among those seeking a gluten-free diet or those interested in finding more food sources.