Chirps is a cricket proteinsnacks company.

Their snacks are high in protein, sustainable, and healthy with less fat than traditional wheat, whey, or soy based snacks.

In February 2017, Chirps received a $100,000 investment from Mark Cuban after pitching on Shark Tank.

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Chirps was founded by Rose Wang, Laura D'Asaro, and Meryl Breidbart in 2013.

Rose Wang was a Harvard student traveling abroad in Beijing when she ate her first bug, a fried scorpion.

Wang tried the bug after being dared by her travel mates, however after she tried it, she loved the taste.

Around the same time D'Asaro tried eating a fried caterpillar in Tanzania, and fell in love with protein rich and sustainable insects.When

Wang and Laura returned to the United States, they learned about how bugs were one of the most sustainable and healthy sources of protein. They

started experimenting and cooking with crickets they bought from a local pet shop . Soon

afterwards, Meryl Breidbart, another Harvard student, joined their team. ^[3] [17][19]

While Chirps was able to raise funding through pitch competitions and investors in 2013, their products only hit shelves in 2016, because manufacturing and recipe development took about two years.

They also raised $75,000 through Kickstarter in 2014.

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Chirps sells three products chips, a powder, and a cookie mix, which are all made using cricket flour.

The cricket flour is made by slow roasting milled crickets.

The products were developed with the help of a professional chef, Geoff Lukas.

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Chirps uses crickets in their product because their taste, sustainability, and nutritious properties.

Chirps chose crickets specifically because of their subtle umami or nutty flavor.

In terms of sustainability it only takes one pound of water to produce a pound of crickets while it would take 2,000 pounds of water to produce one pound of beef.

Cricket protein is a more nutritious complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, more vitamin b12 than salmon, and more calcium than milk.

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In December 2018, Chirps launched a new protein powder, Chirps Cricket Protein Powder, on Kickstarter.

The Chirps protein blend is crafted from ingredients including peas, brown rice, chia seeds, and crickets.

Since the powder uses cricket protein instead of plant protein it is more nutritious and sustainable than traditional protein powders.

The Chirps protein powder is available in both chocolate and vanilla flavors.

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In February 2017, Rose Wang and Laura D'Asaro pitched Chirps on Shark Tank.

They were initially seeking $100,000 in exchange for 7% of the business.

Mark Cuban quickly jumped in during the pitch with an offer of $100,000 for a 20% stake in Chirps.

They countered him at 15% and he accepted.

Cuban had previously invested in Chapul, a cricket protein bar and powder company.

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On April 22, 2017, Earth Day, Chirps broke the record for the world's largest nachos by creating a 5,022-pound serving of nachos using 2,000 pounds of their Chirps chips.

They held the event on Earth Day to raise awareness for their cricket based chips which are much more sustainable then wheat and meat based alternatives.

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