Bug Buffet

Whetting appetites

Francis Ng, House of Seafood restaurant's chief executive, is cooking up a menu of 30 insect-infused dishes to give customers more choice.

Of the 16 approved species, the restaurant will add superworms, crickets and silkworm pupae to some of its seafood dishes, such as salted egg crab.

Prior to the approval, the restaurant had been getting five to six calls daily inquiring about its insect-based dishes, Ng said.

"Many of our customers, especially young people who are under 30 years old, are very daring. They want to be able to see the whole insect in the dish," he said.

Ng anticipates that sales from insect-based dishes will increase his revenue by about 30 percent.

Javier Yip, founder of logistics company Declarators, has set up another business and secured a license to import insects from farms in China, Thailand and Vietnam for sale in Singapore.

He will sell a range of bug snacks under the brand name InsectYumz. Several types of insect snacks will be available for a start, including original and tom yum-flavored crickets and mealworms. There will also be cricket powder, which is a protein powder.

These items will soon be listed on his website and other e-commerce sites, as well as supermarkets and restaurants, he said.

Asked why he decided to venture into importing insects, Yip said: "I enjoy eating them; in fact, the first time I tried an insect was at a shop in Tampines (a region in Singapore) in the 1990s."

As he runs a logistics company, Yip feels he has the know-how and ability to import these insects into Singapore. He hopes to provide such snacks to those who might enjoy them, particularly young people.

Altimate Nutrition, which creates insect food products for humans, has sought to garner interest among younger people by educating consumers over the years.

Its main product offerings are cricket-infused protein bars, which come in a range of flavors, from strawberry to banana chocolate.

While waiting for regulatory approval, the company conducted workshops and educational sessions at almost a hundred schools, from preschools to institutes of higher learning, said its co-founder, Hiew Yuen Sheng.

"During our workshops, we targeted mostly young people who may be more adventurous when it comes to trying insects, and we educated them on the benefits of insects as a more sustainable protein source," he said.