WunderGrubs

WunderGrubs is a vertically integrated edible-insect company that produces mealworms (Tenebrio, a darkling beetle species) year-round for use as an ingredient in human food, animal feed and soil fertilizer. Its onsite micro-farm sits on a working farm with livestock, crops and cabins, and the company positions mealworm farming as a complement to traditional agriculture, including waste bioconversion services in which insects are reared on food scraps such as vegetable ends, peels and fruit cores, with the resulting frass used as fertilizer.

The product line sold through the company's online shop includes roasted protein powder, smoked Tenebrio protein powder and baking mixes such as chocolate chip and oatmeal-raisin cookie mixes, priced from roughly $4 to $16. Beyond packaged goods, WunderGrubs offers farm starter kits, recipes, feed products, compost, and agritourism and education formats including camps and field visits, tours and tastings, and workshops and demonstrations. Founders Akissi Stokes-Nelson and Karim Nelson describe mealworms as easier to farm than crickets — quiet, prolific breeders that obtain water from their feed — and note that flavor varies with diet, ranging from earthy and nutty to neutral, with smoked product often used as an entry point for new consumers.