Concordia

Concordia Winter 2019 4 Concordia Winter 2019 5 Eat Grub! Shami Radia (1995-2000) worked in the NGO sector for many years before joining forces with Neil Whippey (1995-1998) to co-found Eat Grub. In a conversation with Concordia, he reflects on the twin challenges of being an entrepreneur and trying to normalise the eating of insects in the West. W hen I reflect on my time at Merchant Taylors’ School I think one doesn’t really recognise or appreciate how very fortunate one is to go to that school. As a student, I probably didn’t make the most of it, but that’s hindsight for you! The facilities were so good and I used to love sports, especially being able to play cricket, rugby and football as well as minor sports like Fives. Team sports are really important to me and I still play football. Overall, the quality of the teaching stood out and, regardless of how well you actually do academically, going to a school like Merchant Taylors’ imbues you with a kind of confidence going into the wider world. I had a few memorable teachers, including my English teacher (and tutor) Mr Pender, and Mr Brown, my History teacher. I was saddened to hear he passed away recently. His passion for the subject certainly rubbed off on me; I ended up doing A Level History and even today I am an avid reader of historical novels and books. Something else I took away from Merchant Taylors’ is a really good group of friends, with whom I am still in touch. Neil Whippey was in that group and it was on his 30th birthday that a slightly drunken discussion led to the genesis of an idea about selling grubs as food. I used to be the Marketing Manager for WaterAid and I did a lot of travelling in Africa and Asia. I would collect stories and case studies to use in communications and marketing and was often invited to try local delicacies. It was on one such trip to Malawi where I tried termites for the first time and I actually thought they were very nice. I then read an article in National Geographic about the nutritional benefits. When you look at the nutrition, the macros, nothing compares to it; not only the protein content, but the iron, calcium, zinc, the fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6), vitamins B6 and B12…the list goes on. Literally, we call them the original superfood, which is our company’s strapline, because they have been eaten throughout human history. It’s actually a modern phenomenon to be squeamish about them, and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! hasn’t done the cause any favours. When we first started in 2014, we tried some pop- up restaurants just to test the market and concept. We hadn’t quit our jobs at that point; it was more a side-line that we were just interested in, but we thought that if there was enough of a business proposition then we could pursue it more. At that point there was also a growing awareness of sustainability and the impact of livestock farming, as well as the rise of veganism, but it was nothing like it is today. People were starting to say that we needed to reduce meat consumption, even if many weren’t ready to become vegan. We see ourselves as a really important stepping stone for people who want to reduce their meat consumption but they are not yet ready to give up on eggs and cheese. The biggest challenge we face is the squeamishness issue. The thing about eating bugs is that we’re not born with this fear, it’s all learned behaviour. It is really important to bear in mind that two billion of the world’s population eat insects and 80% of the world’s nations have insects in their diets. In fact, for people in these countries, eating insects is like eating Maltesers: it is a treat in