Why did you decide to start this business?

Since 1992, the founder has been working at the University of Tokushima to answer questions such as "Why do living things have different shapes? How do they form? and "Why do we look like this? and "Why do we look the way we do? This led us to choose the insect, the dipterocarp cricket, as a model for our research. The crickets we are currently dealing with are also called dipteroc crickets. Later, the idea of using crickets as a solution to the food problem of population growth came to me, and I launched Grilas.

Incidentally, the company name "Gryllus" is taken from "Gryllus bimaculatus," the scientific name for the dipterocarp cricket.

I heard that Grilas researches crickets as an entomophagy and conducts everything from planning, development, and production to sales. What is your goal through your business?

There are four major categories.
・Solving the world's protein deficiency.
・To create a sustainable global food cycle.
・Providing a healthy life for all living creatures.
・Imagine a future where crickets are commonplace in our lives.

In the course of your business, how do you feel the focus on the entomophagy industry is changing today compared to the past?

Various manufacturers and restaurants have begun to sell food products using cricket powder and extracts, and we feel that attention is gradually increasing.

How do you produce crickets?

Using a closed school in Tokushima, the company farms and produces fish using wardrobe cases.
The first cricket farm in Japan to establish safe and secure mass production technology.

The high price of entomophagy has been a problem in terms of affordability, but is there anything you are doing to lower the price?

We are developing an automatic rearing machine to take care of crickets by hand, including feeding and cleaning, which incurs high labor costs. We are also working on various projects to boost the entomophagy industry by making it possible to mass-produce crickets and reduce costs.

Why are crickets currently the focus of attention in the entomophagy industry?

Insects have a lower environmental impact than livestock, requiring less food and water to raise and emitting less greenhouse gases.
Crickets have attracted attention because they are the best tasting, omnivorous, and fast-growing of such insects.
Because they are omnivorous, they can feed on food losses and industrial waste such as bread ears and bran, and they develop as quickly as 1 to 1.5 months.
Cricket feces can also be used as fertilizer.
We are focusing on this as a cyclical "circular food" that is a step forward from entomophagy.

What kind of products do you sell?

We have been cooperating with MUJI to launch cricket crackers and selling our own brand of C.TRIA and powder products mainly through our website. Recently, our products are also sold at FamilyMart, making them more accessible. In addition, Japan Airlines JAL's ZIPAIR has incorporated our cricket powder into their in-flight meal menu.

Are there any safety precautions you are taking?

In addition to maintaining a clean environment to prevent bacteria from entering the farm, Grilas uses crickets with white eyes to differentiate them from wild crickets. White-eyed crickets are albino crickets that are the result of a mutation, while wild crickets have black eyes, so they are easily recognized when they are contaminated!

What are some of the challenges entomophagy faces?

・To get rid of the image of "mazy," "punishing," and "ghetto.
・Having allergens (crustaceans) → change to less allergenic ones through breeding
・Establishing mass production technology and increasing demand
・Assigning functionality other than being a protein source
・Changing to a less resistant form (e.g., crickets with white bodies)
・Crickets living in warm regions need temperature control when they are farmed, and the electricity used to power them is more eco-friendly and clean (e.g., geothermal power). Such as.