E-Mart to sell cereals made of edible insects

Korean discount store chain E-Mart will be the first in the country to provide cereals made of edible insects.

The superstore chain said Sunday that it will sell three varieties of “Futureal” starting this month, which are cereals developed by Future Food Lab, made of edible insect powders and mushrooms.

Futureal, weighing 30 grams and costing 2,400 won ($2.26) per package, contains about 1.5 to 2.5 times more protein compared to ordinary cereals. The cereals can be eaten directly from the package with milk.

According to E-Mart, the packaging was designed to portray an image of “food for the future.” Edible insects in the form of powders were used in the manufacturing of cereals to counter the “consumers’ prejudice against edible insects.”

Futureal will be available at five premium E-Mart branches: the PK Markets in Starfield Hanam and Starfield Goyang; SSG Food Markets in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul and Marine City, Busan; and Star Super in Dogok-dong, Seoul.

By Cho Yun-myung (yunc39@heraldcorp.com)