Cricket-based Food Wins MAKO Invent Award

C-fu Foods wins annual pitch competition for $10,500 award!

August 02, 2017

Seven people in the Student Learning Centre's Sandbox hold a giant cheque for $10,500 made out to C-fu Foods.

When most people think about insects, they don’t think of them as a great tasting source of protein.

Lee Cadesky is changing that perception. The co-founder and chief operating officer of C-fu Foods (external link) and One Hop Kitchen (external link) is this year’s winner of the MAKO Student Innovation Award – an annual award of $10,500, created by MAKO Invent (and double-matched by Ryerson and the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) to foster excellence in commercial product development in Ryerson’s Zone ecosystem.

The “C” in C-fu Foods stands for crickets, and the “fu” for tofu. The company has created a healthy meat replacement from insects that can be used for burgers, schnitzel and nuggets, and as an alternative to eggs or butter. The company also makes a water soluble cricket protein powder that can be whipped into a protein shake. The company has products on the shelves of about 60 different grocery stores in the U.S. and Canada.

To take home the prize, Cadesky faced 11 other finalists in a live-pitch session inside the Sandbox by DMZ. The esteemed panel of judges included Ashutosh Jha, Co-Founder and Director of 180 Smoke and Director of Projects for the POA Educational Foundation; Ela Aldorsson (Fashion ’05), Co-Founder and Designer of Ela Handbags; James Chalmers, Group President and CEO of TACK10 Strategy; Somen Mondal, Co-Founder and CEO of Ideal; and Tarek Sadek, Director of Entrepreneurship Education in Ryerson University’s Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science.

“This panel was made up of people with a wealth of knowledge and experience as entrepreneurs,” says Kevin Mako, president and founder of MAKO Design + Invent (external link) , a full-service consumer product development firm that provides complete in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, and prototyping services for both early-stage invention start-ups and established companies. “The growth of the competition has been incredible. This year, we had over thirty applicants, and it is exciting to see the increased level of preparedness and startups with a likelihood of becoming sustainable businesses in the future.”

For his pitch, Cadesky brought along some samples for the judges to taste, including sausage, insect tofu, and pasta sauce from One Hop Kitchen. “It’s crucial to prepare a menu and let people touch, feel, and taste,” says Cadesky.

The award will help C-fu Foods with ongoing research and with marketing at the International Agricultural Expo in Seoul, Korea. “The Mako award will be the difference between making an A impression and a B impression with potential buyers and distributors,” says Cadesky.

“Winning was incredibly validating,” adds Cadesky. “The financial support will go a long way in helping us grow the company.”