Native Foods GmbH

It all began with an (un)ordinary cooking evening in the summer of 2018, when Sebastian invited insect lovers into his kitchen. One of the guests that evening was Camilo. The graduate engineer for technical environmental protection comes from Colombia and has a natural connection to insects as food. What is an unusual thought for Europeans was normal for him from an early age. In Colombia, insects are valued as a nutritious part of the daily diet, which is why he was aware of the advantages of this special source of protein from an early age. He learned all the other arguments for using insects as food many years later during his studies. This was mainly about the limited resources worldwide, which are used by worms, grasshoppers & Co. in a much more careful way than by ordinary farm animals.

Thus, many years of know-how about the properties of insects met with just as much entrepreneurial spirit and the two decided to found a start-up together. The hour of birth of "Native Foods" had come.

After the two quickly agreed on which snacks would open up the range, came the tedious part that comes with every business start-up. In addition to the search for suitable partners who would meet the high standards of the two founders in terms of quality and sustainability, the food approval had to be mastered. Since the EU has only been regulating insects as food since 2018, this was also one of the initial hurdles that took some nerves and nights.

With promising suppliers at their side, the first insect snacks could be produced shortly afterwards. Another unexpected challenge, because as it turned out, there were not many bakeries willing to include insects in their production line. But one small bakery decided in the end to produce the special kind of food and so after many trials on the home oven the first production was ordered.

The Holi-Cracker and a tortilla chip were then taken in 2019 to the world's largest trade fair for food, agriculture and horticulture - the Green Week in Berlin - where the insect snacks were to be exposed to the first public criticism. It was here that both founders realised for the first time that the crackers were not only ready for their friends, who were allowed to serve as test eaters, but also for the broad customer market. With a lot of euphoria and conviction about the idea, recipes have been refined and products have been further developed ever since.

And so everything took its course...

Native Foods is now supplying local customers and some online shops under the new brand name "Pinaks" and is ready to convince even more people of the benefits and taste of its insect-based products. Become part of this development and try it out!