A cricket processing facility will create 60 jobs in London, Ontario. – London

A food-grade automated cricket processing facility – expected to be the world’s largest – will move to London’s Innovation Park.Aspire Food Group, an edible insect company, says construction of the 12-acre parcel of land at Veterans Memorial Parkway and the 401 is expected to begin next month and to be completed by the end of next year. . The crickets and their by-products will be used in “human and animal nutrition, biomedicine and agrochemicals.

According to the company, the facility will be “one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient protein production systems in the world.”

Mayor Ed Holder welcomed the Aspire Food group to the London area on Monday afternoon.

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“You know how in the past people have said ‘well, we went to the crickets?’ Well London is out of crickets and I think we couldn’t be more proud of the Aspire Food Group, ”Holder said.

“It will start by employing around 60 people with room to hire more people as demand increases.”

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Holder also pointed out that the company chose London, Ont. After “extensive research over the past year.” Although the company is based in Texas, it has its beginnings in Canada.

“We are delighted to be building this facility in Canada, where our adventure began seven years ago as graduate students of McGill University,” said co-founder and CEO Mohammed Ashour.

Middlesex County Director Cathy Burghardt-Jesson congratulated London on the announcement and said it would be “great for our whole region”.

In a statement, London Economic Development Corporation CEO Kapil Lakhotia said the production facility would be a “great addition to our agribusiness cluster of over 90 companies employing over 7,000 people” in companies such as Labatt, McCormick, Dr. Oetker and Nestlé. , as well as “several fast-growing food industry startups. ”

“We are thrilled to attract the jobs, innovation and technology that this cutting-edge project brings to our community, a boost to our post-COVID economic recovery efforts,” he added.

According to a statement, Aspire recently received $ 10 million in federal “funding and support” from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.