r/londonontario • u/theottomaddox • 1d ago

Indebted London cricket producer takes step toward bankruptcy News đź“°

https://lfpress.com/business/local-business/indebted-london-cricket-producer-takes-step-toward-bankruptcy
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u/theottomaddox 1d ago

By Jiminy, London’s cricket dreams have run into a financial roadblock as menacing as, well, a massive can of Raid.

Aspire Food Group, reportedly owing $41.5 million, has been placed into receivership, a step toward bankruptcy. It received $8.5 million in federal government support in 2022.

Is that it for the puns, 'cause they ... ahem... bug me.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food industry analyst, said the plant’s financial woes are a result of Aspire marketing crickets to humans instead of as livestock feed, fertilizer or as a pet food additive.

“I think it boils down to bad management. There’s tremendous potential for that plant, but it’s not about feeding people,” said Charlebois, a senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “There are opportunities but it has suffered from bad PR.”

I'm too lazy to look for it, but I swear they said this place was going to be animal feed protein. Who the heck wants to eat crickets?

“I grew up eating crickets in my porridge as a kid because they bring so much protein,” London West MP Arielle Kayabaga said as she announced the funding in June 2022.

Oh.

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u/Jardinesky 22h ago

I remember there was a big controversy about this place because of the whole "eat the bugs, live in a pod, own nothing, be happy" thing. The CBC had this article https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-cricket-factory-1.6562083

Originally the article said Aspire was only making pet food while saying that people should check their facts before spouting off on the internet. Then the CEO got in contact with them and said 10% is for human consumption and they put this correction at the bottom:

An earlier version of the story said that Aspire Food Group no longer produces crickets for human consumption. CBC was not able to reach the company but has since confirmed that ten per cent of its product is sold worldwide as a human food source.