powder, so there are no eyes or legs sticking out as some might think. The bar is made with dates, sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds, chocolate and cricket flour,” says Stefán who is a marketing expert, while Búi is the designer and thinker. Stefán and Búi found cricket farmers in America, experts in farming the insect for human consumption, to provide the cricket flour they use in Jungle Bar. The crickets are fed on a grain based diet. They are then dried and ground into fine flour which is then mixed in with the other ingredients. The latter part of the production takes place in Canada. Thinking of the future Jungle Bar has grabbed the attention of wholesalers and companies around the world. “For future projects we have many ideas on insect infused products but today our main focus is on the Jungle Bar. We decided to crowdfund the first production of our protein bar on Kickstarter, which is a great venue for feedback and for getting people’s opinion. Thinking outside the box is the way to go in the field of food production. Things are developing faster in the US in regards to edible insects than in Europe, but people in Europe are slowly waking up,” says Búi. And you could say
Icelandic entrepreneurs Búi Bjarmar Aðalsteinsson and Stefán Atli Thoroddsen want to help out in the world’s food industry with a positive and healthy input.
Búi himself woke up at school. He was tired of designing normal things, lacked a sense of purpose and almost quit school because of it. Then he found his calling. “I wanted to do something new, make something sustainable and got help from various people in Iceland. Then I read the UN report on edible insects and did some research on what was happening in
byproduct of contributing to a more sustainable food industry. If Jungle Bar sells well one of our ideas is to start working on developing processes where people can sustainably grow their own foods.” “We can grow things using less arable land. You need space and resources for a single cow. Growing crickets can be done in a small cage in a house to
The crickets are ground into flour, which is added to a mix of dates, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and chocolate. The Jungle Bar is gluten, dairy and soy free.
the food industry. I realized that we need to change in regards to how we think about food. I am sure that insects will play a bigger part in the future, be it in one year, five or ten years.” Less space, more food Stefán and Búi are not driven by dreams of fame and fortune, they want to make a difference in the world. “We know this is a visionary project. To get people asking themselves, ‘Would I eat an insect?’ That’s the first step. Making money will only be a
start with. This is something you can do in baby steps, perhaps just for Sunday lunch. Little by little we can build a society which is self-sustainable, be it with our ideas or those of others. We need to rethink food matters and our input for now is the Jungle Bar. If there is a way of simplifying the food process, that would be of benefit for all. We are not here to compete with anyone, but to add a new product that is beneficial for everyone. Like we are all one big happy family,” says Búi. v
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Issue three
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