Interview with Davide Rossi, Fucibo co-founder
Hi Davide, the first Fucibo’s products are out in the market, and they’re also the first edible insect-based products made in Italy. Tell us about them
Yes, our chips finally arrived, with insect flour of course.
A simple recipe with simple and high-quality ingredients, designed to bring consumers closer through a product that is also simple to try, especially sharing it with friends during an aperitif.
They are the classic baked corn chips, in the two more classic flavors: pizza and cheese.
You said “classic”, isn’t that a slightly out of place adjective for chips with insect powder?
I would say no.
If no one told you, you would probably never understand that they contain insect flour! It is almost exclusively a psychological question and this is one of those cases in which facts count more than words: just try them!
The work we do when developing our recipes is precisely aimed at inserting insect flour, which is a new ingredient, in a traditional context. Think about biscuits for example, there are hundreds of types with the most different ingredients…those with insect flour are just one more.
Of course we are proud to bring innovation and new creative possibilities to the food sector, but this does not mean attacking the “classic” or the traditional.
What kind of insect powder do you use in your products?
We use mealworms flour. Tenebrio Molitor is the scientific name of the insect.
It is important to underline that we only use flours produced in Europe and authorized by the European Commission.
What kind of response do you expect from consumers?
We decided to start with a product that is easy to approach, as I said before, precisely to encourage a very positive response from consumers.
However, we must not forget that there is a good portion of potential customers who have already overcome the distrust of edible insects, the surveys show this as well as our experience. For this reason also, during the year we will come out with other products such as pasta, biscuits and crackers, more intended for daily consumption than for party or aperitif time.
Where can we buy your chips?
For a short time they will be available exclusively on 21bites.com, then gradually in other ecommerce stores, supermarkets and shops.
And outside of Italy?
We are sure the Made-in-Italy claim will be a plus in foreign markets: as it is for traditional products, the same will be for innovative ones, so we expect a great success.
Another advantage is certainly that of working with authorized flours, which guarantees the consumer quality, traceability and compliance with all relevant hygiene and health regulations.
For those who want to know more about edible insects before trying them?
There is now an endless literature on the web, from articles of lifestyle to more specialized scientific studies. The overall point of reference remains the 2015 FAO White Paper on Edible Insects.
For a brief summary, on our site we collected the answers to the most frequently asked questions. You can obviously find them in the FAQ section.
