The Business of Bugs In the spring of 2016, Bex De Prospo ’03 left behind a comfy day job for something less stable, a lot more exciting, with 100 percent more bugs. Intro by Meghan Livie ’09 | Excerpt by Bex De Prospo ’03
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ex De Prospo ’03 was living a safe, practical existence in Christchurch, New Zealand, the city she calls home, but she longed for a life of purpose. The former English major had a well-established career as a music and theater venue manager and was well-respected in her field, but there was no buzz, no passion. With graduate degrees in entrepreneurship, English literature, and sound design, De Prospo’s knowledge and skill set were constantly evolving, but still she felt unfulfilled. Looking to discover that “something missing,” De Prospo attended StartUp Weekend Christchurch, a hands-on gathering of entrepreneurs with start-up dreams, looking to see if those dreams are viable. She came away from that weekend with a business partner, Peter Randrup, and a vision for the business that would emerge from their whirlwind meeting: Anteater, New Zealand’s supplier for premier edible insects. With a passion for sustainability and global food security at the forefront, De Prospo and Randrup founded Anteater to add delicious edible insects into mainstream culture as a substitute for protein sources that come at a much higher cost to the environment. From foraged lemongrass ants to native grass-fed locusts dubbed “sky prawns,” Anteater’s delectable bugs are a huge hit with forward-thinking chefs with a cutting-edge menu or environmentally sustainable food sources in mind. In the two years since its inception, Anteater has won or been nominated for many awards, including grand prize and best business plan prize in the Entre $85k Challenge, run by the University of Canterbury. Most recently, the business owners were selected as fellows for the prestigious Edmund Hillary Fellowship, a groundbreaking entrepreneurial platform that brings international leaders together in New Zealand for three years of focused business development. Here, from De Prospo’s blog @BusinessBex on Medium.com, is an excerpt detailing a trip to Southeast Asia for edible insect research.
Bex De Prospo ’03 flash-fries locusts at TEDx Christchurch.
IF YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER,
START A BUSINESS.
Chef Seiha (far right) is very satisfied with himself after putting a scorpion on Bex De Prospo’s shoulder.
Entrepreneurship has completely altered my perception of time. In my former “day job” life, the hours and days often seemed excruciatingly long, while the months and years unceremoniously slipped away in seconds. Now, the days race by so quickly that we frequently wish we had another three or four hours to carry on. But we’re learning and achieving so much that the weeks feel more like months, the months, years. As I write, Peter and I are in Sydney Airport on one final layover after wrapping up an Anteater research trip to Thailand and Cambodia. We have been there for two weeks testing various edible insect products and meeting with most of the biggest and best players in the bug business. Southeast Asia was immense. There were several 24-hour periods which, upon completion, we could no longer recall how they started. The best of which started on a Sunday night as we arrived into Siem Reap, got shamelessly ripped off crossing the border, and eventually clambered awkwardly, sweating, with all of our possessions into a tuk tuk to our hotel. That first ride from the airport in the dark was already enough to make me teary
SPRING 2018
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