Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of having my first Chapul protein bar tabling experience at the Austin Bug Eating Festival. It was truly an event for some hardcore folks as not only was it on a weekday evening, but it was over 100 degrees outside. Much like crickets themselves, as temperatures cooled into the night, it became more of a bustling event.
I think a lot of people expect some sort of “fear factor” when consuming crickets, but this event put that preconception to the test. Not only were people excited to see Chapul bars that have been mainstreamed through being at many grocery outlets, including Sprouts and Natural Grocers, and featured on Shark Tank, but the other insect food options were quite decadent. If the chocolate covered cricket truffles didn’t lure people in, no one could resist the smells of the two cricket cooking demonstrations: curry and (a true Austin favorite) tacos!
My most enthusiastic customers were children. Pretty sure they didn’t hear anything past “chocolate” when describing the bars, and dug in with wild abandon! This event also made for some interesting conversations with adults. Many of the new, but open to eating crickets were relieved there were not cricket chunks in the bars and were excited about the protein powder and Chapulina, Chapul's high protein baking flour available online.
Others who were experienced cricket eaters enjoyed swapping stories about “their first time” eating crickets…Most interesting comment from event attendee: “I started out eating crickets as a kid on the playground.”
Overall, it was a fun event and I'm proud to be the new local Austin food revolutionary for Chapul!