Mexican startup Griyum, co-founded by engineer and food biotechnologist Alejandro de la Brena, produces edible cricket flour to help combat malnutrition, provide better economic opportunities to farmers and help the environment. Why crickets? First off, crickets are very adaptable and can be grown in controlled environments. Secondly, when compared to livestock, producing an equivalent amount of protein from crickets results in 25 times less deforestation, 100 times less greenhouse gas emissions, and uses 2,000 times less water. To do this, Griyum relies on a decentralised production network of 25 sharecroppers, providing them with technology, training, and assistance, as well as guaranteed access to the market. Alejandro co-founded Griyum, a portmanteau of the Spanish word for cricket and “yum”, in 2016 and now they now see edible cricket flour as an opportunity to “grow a community creating the future of foods for a sustainable world.”
