Entrepreneurial Venture Sets Sights on Success with Cricket-Based Snacks

Rec Rec, a Vietnamese startup that makes snacks from crickets, aims to popularize food made from insects. Co-founder Nguyen Hong Ngoc Bich said that snacks have always been considered unhealthy, and this is an opportunity for them to create a new kind of healthy snack. Instead of making snacks from potato, rice flour, or cornstarch, Bich and her associates used crickets to make them.

In 2017, Bich co-founded CricketOne and exported protein made from crickets to 20 countries, but local companies did not buy due to insects’ unpopularity in Vietnam. After seeing a surge in demand for raw crickets in North America and Europe in the last two years, she decided to produce her own snacks. Rec Rec was established in September 2022 in partnership with FoodMap, an e-commerce platform specializing in agricultural products.

The cricket-based snacks provide 14-15 grams of protein, vitamins, and minerals, and are seasoned with wasabi, salted egg, or cheese. The company sold over 10,000 packs through online channels and social networks in the first month and is available in some stores. The snack is favored by young consumers who often have an open mind and a modern lifestyle.

Bich plans to launch new products with new packaging and flavors such as barbeque, lemongrass, and chili. Rec Rec aims to convert the 50% of people who refuse to eat cricket snacks. The Vietnamese snack market is worth US$5.81 billion now and is expected to grow at 8.93% annually over the next five years. Rec Rec raised $10,000 on U.S. fund-raising platform Indiegogo in March.