Selling insects for a living
The endless sound of crickets chirping would make you think you were in a field somewhere in the Czech countryside, but in fact, this is a country attic, home to thousands of insects stored and raised by Czech businessman Vlastimil Švingr. Fourteen years ago, Mr Švingr was inspired to start a small farm to sell everything from larvae to crickets to cockroaches as food for animals in pet shops and zoos: today he has more than 1,700 clients throughout the country and his business is a big success, with an annual turnover of around 12 million crowns (around 630,000 US dollars).
“I was attracted by the idea because I’ve always had strong ties to Nature – selling insects seemed pretty good in that respect. A friend of mine had worked on this kind of farm in Switzerland, and I figured we could try it here. We began small but aimed big. Gradually we grew, until demand exceeded our capacity to produce our own bugs. Today, we import many from a special farm in Germany.”
Meeting demands is hard work on a daily basis: it requires packing thousands of bugs – from mealworms to crickets to cockroaches – into specially-prepared boxes for delivery, either by post, train or truck. Each week, the Švingrs sell 300 kilos of mealworms alone. Crickets are also big sellers, going for 4 crowns a piece – they cost ten in the store. This, clearly, is a lucrative market! But obviously not everyone can handle it: if you want to raise bugs, you also have to have a stomach for it.
What about others in the Švingr family? I asked Vlastimil’s mum, Ingrid.
“I’m his mum, so I have to do what he says, don’t I?! But of course I want to help and I have to say the bugs don’t bother me a bit. Sometimes they get in your clothes and you only notice you’ve got a cricket somewhere when you go the store, but it doesn’t bother me. You can always squash it and shake it out later.”
“Well, this is a massive cockroach – I’ve never seen anything like it. Apparently an American cockroach and I’m going to try and put it on my hand. Let’s see what this feels like. Oh, it doesn’t feel so bad.”
In the end, I even said it was kind of cute in way – but that may have been a bit of a stretch.
“Monkeys love these Brazilian larvae, then you have all kinds of birds and lizards. If they live in a terrarium, they’ll go for it.”
Not just animals get to eat the bugs, either: one of the more unusual of Mr Švingr’s customers was the Czech Army, who needed an assortment of bugs for a survival course: five litres of crickets, locusts, and larvae to be eaten, when no other food could be found. The proper way, says Vlastimil Švingr, is to heat up a saucepan and fry the critters, although he admits, he has never tried it himself.
Yes, that’s the sound of a frying pan – yum yum yum.
Indeed, with so much of his life devoted to bugs, you’d think Vlastimil Švingr would get tired of them once in a while, but he lights up whenever showing different specimens. A final anecdote, though, is a touch morbid although one of the more curious stories in the life of an unusual businessman.
“I was stopped by cops for a traffic violation once when I was transporting about 300 kilos of grubs. They looked in the back and then asked me what would happen if I crashed and fell unconscious in the car or was trapped and they got out. I thought about it and said ‘Well, you know, after a while they might start eating me!’ They’re meat-eaters, after all. We sometimes throw the mealworms dead mice and a day or two later the bones and the fur are all that are left. The cops listened to the story and decided to let me off with a warning, to not give me a ticket.”
Photo: author
