HAZ - Insects for eating: soon at Hanover's weekly markets

Startup

Insects for eating: soon at Hanover's weekly markets

Baked, fried or fried: Young entrepreneur Michael Blackzik sells with his company Bugoo insects for eating.

Hanover.Eat insects? Some friends of young entrepreneurs Michael Blaubzik also shuddered at the thought. "Insects taste really delicious, very nutty," says the 31-year-old. He has set up his own business with the preparation and sales of the food. From May he wants to drive out the baked small animals with a mobile sales stand on the Maschsee and at weekly markets.

Insects as a food alternative

What we eat is strongly culturally shaped. Many Muslims find pork gross, which is considered impure in Arab countries. The Central Europeans, on the other hand, are alien to the Chinese eating habits: dogs or bats are not on the plate here. In contrast, insects are a triumphal march as a food worldwide. Their rearing consumes less space and CO2 than, for example, with beef, but they donate richly protein.

Housing, crowds, crickets and mealworms: In European eyes, insects take some getting used to as food.

Housing, crowds, crickets and mealworms: In European eyes, insects take some getting used to as food.

Blaubzik is a business economist, he works as a price manager at the online dealer Reifen.com. However, since he tried and found insects for the first time that they are a gap in the market in Hanover, he has been working part -time on his startup called Bugoo. Bug means beetle or insect in the US conduct language.

Roasted or fried

Blaubziks has been for four weeks Online trade at the beginning. "Of course I can't live on it yet, but now orders are entered in every day," says the young entrepreneur from the cunning. In Hanover's north, he can use a catering kitchen in which he prepares his grasshoppers, crickets and worms.

He obtains the animals from two certified rearing systems from the Ulm area and in the Netherlands. They come to him shock frozen. If you bake them without ingredients, they actually taste nutty. “But you can also season them salty, sweet and sour, or sharp-sweet. They are a crosse of salad dutation, or you are fried as a snack, ”says Blaubzik.

Food control has checked

In the meantime, food surveillance was on site and has checked the origin and preparation of the food. "All applications are approved," says Blaubzik. He has a license to travel as a flying dealer, but primarily wants to sell at the weekly markets. "The attractive market locations are all fully booked at the moment, but I hope to get a foot in the door," he says.

The prices sound expensive at first. The oven-roasted grasshoppers cost around 6.50 euros (30-gram pack), the organic homes start at 5.50 euros, the mealworms are somewhat cheaper at 4 euros. "But you shouldn't forget that insects are extremely light," says Blaubzik: "30 grams result in a considerable amount." In the online shop, another 2.50 euros will be available if you order for less than 15 euros.

Many questions

But soon there will also be the delicacy that takes some getting used to. Blaubzik knows that he will have to answer many questions. "But after initial skepticism, most people are curious and want to try."

By Conrad von Meding

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