/desautels/taxonomy/term/335/all en /desautels/channels/news/will-americans-ever-eat-insects-food-startups-say-yes-we-will-259921 <p>Aspire co-founder and COO <strong>Gabe Mott</strong> is a neuroscientist who never imagined he would be a cricket farmer. He is also a vegetarian, but he makes an exception for insects because he believes they are ethical, sustainable, and “a reasonable distribution of food.”  </p> <p>He absolutely gushed over the succulent calamari-texture and sweetness of the palm weevil his company supports in Ghana. </p> Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:43:25 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 65856 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/2016-lannee-ou-lentrepreneuriat-social-se-diversifie-257691 <p>La société <strong>Aspire</strong>, fondée en 2012 par 5 diplômés de ���ϲ�����, apparaît au classement de Forbes. Aspire, qui a remporté le prestigieux prix Hult en entrepreneuriat social, se spécialise en agriculture et en alimentation.</p> <p>Lire l'article complet: <a href="http://www.lesaffaires.com/blogues/diane-berard/2016-l-annee-ou-l-entrepreneuriat-social-se-diversifie-/584369">Les Affaires</a>, Janvier 5, 2016</p> Mon, 11 Jan 2016 18:52:43 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 65452 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/these-entrepreneurs-want-you-eat-bugs-287635 <p>The edible bug business is expected to grow to a whopping $720 million by 2024.</p> <p>Looking to meet demand is the Aspire Food Group, co-founded by former MBA student <strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong>.</p> <p>Next year, Aspire will scale its 25,000-square-foot operation into an adjacent building that is ten times larger.</p> <p><a href="http://jeguezaimbo.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-new-animal-farm.html#!/2018/06/a-new-animal-farm.html" target="_blank">Read more</a></p> Wed, 13 Jun 2018 16:17:33 +0000 julie.lapalme@mcgill.ca 68781 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/are-crickets-meal-staple-future-270901 <p><strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong>, co-founder of Aspire Food Group, received the Highly Commended Award at FoodBytes, a startup competition that supports innovative ideas in food and agriculture. The Aspire Group transforms crickets into high-protein powder and snacks, and are looking to expand their market into the U.S., where the aversion to insects as food seems to prevail.</p> <p><a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2017/09/29/crickets-for-dinner-and-kelp-jerky-future-of-food.html" target="_blank">Read more</a></p> Mon, 02 Oct 2017 20:03:23 +0000 julie.lapalme@mcgill.ca 67917 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/desautels-alumnus-bets-bugs-solve-world-hunger-267464 <p>As the world’s population increases, the pressure to find an ecologically-feasible protein source is mounting, so former MBA student <strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong> of the<strong> <a href="/desautels/alumni/our-alumni/notable-alumni/2013-hult-team-aspire">Aspire Food Group</a></strong> is bringing a foreign concept to the US: eating insects. Long a staple protein source in many countries, bugs offer a bigger protein hit, and require fewer resources than traditional livestock does.</p> Mon, 03 Apr 2017 15:59:37 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 67303 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/crickets-healthy-food-choice-thats-tasty-too-278288 <p>Former MBA student <strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong> and the Aspire Group have come a long way since winning the Hult Prize in 2013 for their vision of creating a high-tech cricket farm to produce foods for human consumption.</p> <p>The Aspire Group has since erected a 25,000-square-foot building in Austin, Texas, which produces roughly 22 million crickets every month.</p> <p>Despite great headway, Ashour recounts his plans for further expansion, along with the nutritional benefits of crickets.</p> Mon, 16 Oct 2017 21:43:48 +0000 julie.lapalme@mcgill.ca 67982 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/great-milestone-aspire-food-group-285711 <p>Aspire Food Group, a manufacturer of food products made from crickets co-founded by former MBA student <strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong>, announced that it has acquired Exo, a producer of protein bars made from crickets.</p> <p>According to Ashour, “There was such a great meeting of minds it very quickly evolved into Aspire acquiring Exo. The synergy and logic just make sense”.</p> <p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2018/03/08/cricket-food-company-aspire-acquires-cricket-protein-bar-maker-exo/#121eb5164f19" target="_blank">Read more</a></p> Thu, 08 Mar 2018 21:16:51 +0000 julie.lapalme@mcgill.ca 68494 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/insect-burgers-could-be-future-237921 <p><span>Palm weevils. To look at, these tiny bugs are relatively unassuming, perhaps even slightly creepy to the insect-adverse. To <strong>Mohammed Ashour</strong>, however, they are the solution to many of the ills facing the developing world. The humble palm weevil could potentially eradicate world hunger and malnutrition, it could lift whole communities out of poverty, and bring down global C02 levels. For a creature measuring just a few inches in length, that's a lot of power.</span></p> Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:47:08 +0000 joy.wang@mail.mcgill.ca 63033 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/future-food-can-be-found-insects-283279 <p>Restauranteurs and entrepreneurs around the world are heeding the call for more sustainable food sources. Among them is the <strong>Aspire Food Group</strong>, which has recently doubled its production of crickets for human consumption at its Texas farm.</p> <p>And they are not the only ones to recognise the value of insects as food. The edible bug business is booming, with a global market of $33 million in 2015, according to the research firm Global Market Insights, which expects it to grow 40 percent by 2023.</p> Thu, 07 Dec 2017 21:31:54 +0000 julie.lapalme@mcgill.ca 68159 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/mcgill-law-grad-makes-forbes-30-under-30-list-257888 <p>Recent ���ϲ����� University law grad<strong> Shobhita Soor</strong> says she is “grateful to be in good company,” after being recognized by Forbes magazine as a breakout talent of 2016 30 Under 30 list. </p> <p>Along with her teammates — while studying in the joint civil-common law and MBA program — Soor helped create a company that addresses food security around the world with innovative technology.</p> Mon, 18 Jan 2016 18:49:36 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 65469 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/bugs-menu-ghana-palm-weevil-protein-hits-pan-257616 <p>Kyei Manu is one of four people farming palm weevil larvae in Donyina village under a scheme run by <strong>Aspire Food Group</strong>, which operates Ghana’s first commercial insect farm. Aspire wants to bring insects from the culinary margins to the mainstream to address food shortages, as well as to boost people’s iron intake.</p> <p>... Aspire was founded by students from <strong>���ϲ����� University</strong> in 2013, and launched the Ghana project last year.</p> Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:12:28 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 65437 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/dec-3-2017-hult-prize-mcgill-264358 <p>On Saturday, Dec. 3, ���ϲ����� will be hosting the Hult Prize @ ���ϲ����� — the university-level competition for the prestigious Hult Prize. The Hult Prize is a social entrepreneurship challenge that invites student teams to solve some of the world’s toughest challenges, affording them a chance to win $1,000,000 in seed funding. Winners from the University will go on to represent ���ϲ����� at the regional competitions in March 2017.</p> Thu, 24 Nov 2016 18:27:10 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 66762 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/une-farine-base-de-sauterelles-pour-reduire-la-faim-dans-le-monde-263645 <p>Depuis quelques temps, la nourriture à base d'insectes semble de plus en plus populaire. Un succès qui pourrait bien encore monter d'un cran avec cette découverte. Des étudiants de l'Université ���ϲ����� ont mis au point une farine fabriquée à base d'insectes et destinée à faire du pain et d'autres aliments.</p> Mon, 24 Oct 2016 17:24:21 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 66650 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/why-im-betting-mcgill-261750 <p>It’s not news that Canada has an Innovation Problem. Over the years, governments have tried their hand at fixing The Problem, and yet, we continue to underperform against peer nations.</p> Mon, 18 Jul 2016 15:05:37 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 66313 at /desautels /desautels/channels/news/5-compelling-reasons-you-should-eat-more-insects-especially-crickets-258303 <p>The very thought of eating insects grosses people out. The image of a creepy, crawly, bug working its way down your windpipe doesn’t exactly conjure up feelings of the contentment we feel with other foods.</p> <p>But why not? How is it that a cow, pig, chicken, or fish seem more appetizing than other creatures? In other cultures who don’t have the “luxury” of consuming conventional sources of protein regularly, insects are a perfectly legitimate choice. In fact, 2 billion people worldwide eat insects regularly as a food source, and North America is JUST starting to catch on.</p> Wed, 03 Feb 2016 18:59:35 +0000 thao.nguyen3@mail.mcgill.ca 65527 at /desautels