Building a business from the ground up, with a boost from VivaTech
Jimini's is a six-year-old French company that develops and distributes ready-to-eat insects and cricket-flour energy bars. The insects are farmed in the Netherlands, according to the company's website: "Grasshoppers, crickets and mealworms are dehydrated and then delicately processed and seasoned in Jimini's workshop near Paris to bring you tastes like no other!"
Spicing up a meal with mealworms can be a fun way to start a party (or end one, depending on where your dinner guests stand on the subject of creepy-crawly comestibles) but rest assured, you’re doing the planet a favor.
At the Carrefour Lab at VivaTech in 2017, the goal for Jimini's was to pitch the Carrefour team and boost distribution. "We were still a small company," recalls Nicolas Camo, who handles exports at Jimini's. "and we were looking for a bit more exposure. Being associated with the kind of technology and innovation you see at VivaTech and with Carrefour really helped us get things off the ground."
Carrefour was looking for new ideas in line with the group’s Dietary Transition Plan for 2020, and Jimini’s was a good fit. Following the young company’s 2017 VivaTech participation, Jimini’s landed a Carrefour distribution deal. Jimini’s products are now available in some 400 Carrefour shops in Spain, and Jimini’s is in discussion with other european distributors.
In 2018 Jimini's was back at VivaTech in Labs hosted by LVMH and La Grande Épicerie and with insect-based product demos on a food tech corner.
“Our head office and workshop have grown along with our production capacity,” says Nicolas Camo. “VivaTech really paved the way for our next level of development.”