The climate and environmental impacts of humanity’s appetite for meat are well-documented. In recent years, alternative dietary protein sources, including products containing insects such as crickets, have started to garner more attention – and for good reason. Crickets require around 12 times less feed, 25 times less space and 2000 times less water than cattle to produce the same amount of edible protein. All while generating 100 times less greenhouse gas emissions.

In short: incorporating insects as protein sources could significantly reduce our overall environmental impact and support global food security. But there remains the challenge of integrating insect protein into food supply chains in a way that is seamless and acceptable for consumers – a feat which requires a great deal of creativity and innovation.

Eco-friendly insect protein

One enterprise rising to that challenge is BioCric. The brainchild of three siblings from Costa Rica –Diego, Maureen and Danny Montenegro Vargas – the company is manufacturing cricket flour as a nutritious raw ingredient as well developing value-added direct-to-consumer snacks based on cricket flour, such as dipping chips, biscuits and smoothie mixes.

The trio first became aware of the potential of insect protein sources in 2021 from research coming out of the University of Costa Rica’s National Center for Food Science and Technology and were inspired to act. Luckily for them, Costa Rica offers a robust innovation ecosystem in this field, with the largest agricultural research sector in Central America, both in terms of investment and human resource capacity, and the higher education system plays an important role in this.

Crucially, the BioCric team were able to road-test some of their early ideas at the University’s unique Insect Museum – where they received training on creating cricket hatcheries and ultimately established a prototype farm producing cricket flour.

Navigating the global food industry

Having a great product, even one backed by science, is no guarantee of success. Early on in their entrepreneurial journey, the BioCric team recognized the importance and potential of leveraging global markets in what is a highly competitive, sprawling food industry. This requires technical skills and a nuanced understanding of intellectual property (IP) in a digital context that many small-scale business owners lack. Without such knowledge, it can be difficult to both protect one’s own IP while avoiding infringements on other business’ property.

In response to these challenges, in March 2023 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched an e-commerce and IP mentoring program for micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Central America. The program was designed to promote the use of IP for small-scale businesses, both as an important component of business strategies and as a valuable source of investment and financing.

BioCric was one of the Costa Rican MSMEs selected to participate in WIPO’s e-commerce and IP mentoring program. The mentoring helped the team quickly get to grips with important IP concepts for their business, such as trademarking and trade secrets. They also received support to implement confidentiality contracts with personnel involved in the unique development of BioCric’s products.

Two-pronged approach to business

Since attending WIPO’s program, the team has taken the decision to divide the company into two business entities: BioCric, which focuses on finished, high-quality products aimed directly at consumers, such as cricket flour-based chips and biscuits, and a sister company that is dedicated to the production of cricket flour as a raw ingredient for business-to-business sales.

BioCric has received various awards, grants and seed capital and has participated in business accelerators that train entrepreneurs and companies to develop consumer-focused food products. Alongside the WIPO mentoring, this support has enabled the company to diversify its offerings by developing new products through a virtuous cycle of continuous research, development and testing.

As of the second quarter of 2024, the BioCric team is working on a new smoothie mix based on cricket flour – tapping into the growing global meal replacement market – and has registered trademarks for its product line, marking a big step for them and for their IP business strategy. The company is also preparing to go to market, bringing their overarching goal of providing sustainable protein alternatives to a global audience a step closer.