Utah business makes energy bars from crickets

Pat Crowley wants to attract Americans to what most of the world’s population already knows: Edible insects are a rich source of protein that’s easy on the Earth.

Crickets ground into flour — that way there are no legs or antennae to think about — provide the protein in the energy bars Crowley and his three partners started making last September.

The business is small but growing steadily, with 2,000 bars sold last month. The Chapul Bars — it means cricket or grasshopper in Aztec — are sold for about $3 in 30 locally-owned stores in 12 states, and Crowley expects to double the retail locations in the next month. He also is about to double the number of energy bar flavors — bringing it to four — and will soon be moving to a larger kitchen.

"People are ready for a change," Crowley said. "They’re more in tune with where their food comes from and the unsustainability of our mainstream food products."

Some 80 percent of the world’s population intentionally eats 1,700 species of insects for food. People eat red tree ants in Cambodia, bee larvae in Japan and grasshoppers in Mexico, Crowley said.
Americans and Europeans are notably absent from the guest list.

As Crowley mixes up a batch of his Thai flavored bars — cricket flour stirred with coconut flakes, dates, almond butter, agave nectar, cashews, ginger and lime — he says the flavors are inspired by cultures where insects are traditionally consumed as part of their diets.


Utah has its own cultural tradition of eating insects. Like about 50 percent of Native American tribes that used insects as food, the Utes and Southern Paiutes did, too. In the 1870s, John Wesley Powell noted that grasshoppers and crickets were collected in droves, roasted like seeds and ground down to be eaten as a mush or in cakes.

They were eaten whole, salted and sun-dried, "much as residents of any present-day neighborhood lounge consume beer nuts," David B. Madsen, Utah’s former state archeologist, wrote in his article "A Grasshopper in Every Pot" published in a Nevada historical quarterly in 1989. Madsen has also written that Mormon pioneer diaries were full of references to eating insects.

Not only were insects widely used as Native Americans’ winter food storage, they also were a delicacy. The mixture of insects, pine nuts and berries left to dry in the sun was called "desert fruitcake."

Chapul bars can currently be found in many locations in the Salt Lake City area as well as OARS in Vernal. Salt Lake Tribune

Dickey’s Barbecue opening in Vernal

A new Dickey’s Barbecue Pit restaurant is opening today in Vernal.

The outlet is the 11th operated by Dickey’s franchise owner John Thomson and is located at 2085 W. Highway 40.

According to their website, Dickey's Barbecue Pit prides itself on authenticity, innovation and barbecue sauce, one store at a time. With roots in Dallas, Travis Dickey set out to perfect Texas-style barbecue.

Dickey's believes that the success of a franchise depends on quality food, recruiting the right owner-operators and providing an in-depth support system. The initial stage of franchise support begins at Barbecue U, an intense, three-week training session where owner-operators learn how to run the restaurant from open to close.

The loyal patrons are what keep Dickey's thriving in every community. Barbecue is a regional cuisine in mostly southern states, but Dickey's Barbecue Pit is changing that one restaurant at a time. As it continues to expand from coast to coast, customers are wooed by the home-style flavor and family friendly atmosphere. Salt Lake Tribune

No vacancy no more: Basin lodgings expand

Several area hotel and motel franchises are up and building, expanding their current offerings to keep up with demand, as well as improve the quality of a visitor's stay in the Basin. The following is a brief listing of upgrades expected this year.

Winterton Suites (Located at 1024 West Highway 40, west of Moon Lake Electric)

Winterton Suites has big plans for its Roosevelt and now Duchesne motel locations. The newest addition is in Duchesne at 75 South 100 West, south of Family Dollar, is expected to be open the first week in May. The two-story townhome-looking building will include six units with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, each with the ability to separate the units for individual night rentals, or for extended stay, but all of that is just one piece of the Winterton Suites grand plan.  Uintah Basin Standard Online

Building boom taking place in Vernal

The Vernal Towne Center as well as other retail and commercial building projects will completed in the coming year. The new growth has led to a staggering increase in the amount of building permit fees the city has collected this year when compared with the fiscal years ending in 2010 and 2011. In fiscal year 2008-09, the city collected approximately $216,000 in building permit fees. In the next two years, it collected roughly $46,000 and $70,000, respectively. As of Monday, the city had taken in about $238,000 in fees for the current fiscal year, which still has three months remaining. Deseret News

Developers already have commitments for the 26-acre Vernal Towne Center from Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft, Petco, and Shoe Carnival. Negotiations are in the final stages with a major department store, a big-name sporting goods retailer, and at least four additional restaurants.

The development also includes space for a hotel, a bank, a gas station and a tire repair shop. The project's tenants will be latest in a string of new arrivals in Vernal that include national chains like Rue 21 and AutoZone.