Interview with Marcin Matuszek, cofounder of Ronzo.
Tell us shortly about who you are and how you got into the world of edible insects
I am a student of Lodz University, passionate with helathy food and proper diet. That’s the reason why it’s a really crucial thing for me to stay in a good shape and eat balanced meals. During my sport activities I’ve learned about sustainability and high nutritional values of edible insects, and I almost couldn’t belive that!. I was wondering why they are not commonly used as a part of our diet.
Then, during a startup-event, I met with Jacek and we started the cooperation.
Why did you decide to be sport-nutrition oriented?
As I said. I’ve always been an active person. I can’t stay in a one place for a long time, I have to move and do something exciting. This pushed me to try different sports. And I needed huge amounts of protein to build my muscles.
It is commonly known that crickets -and insects in general- contain high amounts of proteins. That is the reason why we decided to be sport-oriented.
What products are you planning to market?
Our products are dedicated to active and healthy-eating people.
At the moment we’re focused on cricket-based bars and proteins pills.
The next step is the creation of a nutritional shake with cricket powder which will be a energy boost in the morning or before and after workout. We are cooperating with SGGW University which is preparing the full composition and reciepe.
Where do you get the crickets from?
We decided to get cricket flour from Thailand. We belive that, as entomophagy pioneers, they are the best supplier.
Do you need any special authorization to breed/process/market edible insects in Poland?
The law in Poland is the same as in the European Union. We need all it’s required by Polish Food Agency and European Union law.
How is the consumers perception of entoproducts in your country?
In most of western countries edible insects aren’t popular. The same situation is in Poland.
It is still surprising for people to know that we are producing food from edible insects. The positive thing is that they are interested in trying our products.
The “yack” factor appears really seldom. Our society is getting more and more curious about new and exotic food. Our mission is to promote and spread the word about edible insects as a perfect and sustainable source of nutrition.
