Chapul Cricket Bars are energy bars made with sustainable, protein-rich cricket flour. That’s right, flour made out of ground-up, iron-rich crickets. The founder of Chapul, Pat Crowley of Salt Lake City, Utah, pitched his business on Shark Tank in March 2014. He went into the Tank seeking an investment of $50,000 in exchange for 5 percent equity. He made a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban — $50k for 10 percent.
Since Shark Tank, Chapul Cricket Bars has closed its biggest deal ever — with Sprouts Farmers Market, which now sells Chapul in all of its 217 stores across the country. Chapul is working with a major protein bar manufacturer, has gone from 2 employees (including Crowley!) to eight, and is selling its Cricket Flour Protein in one-pound bags ($45 each) and in single-serve, 18g pouches (a 4-pack retails for $9). See below. Crowley says Mark Cuban “has been a phenomenal asset to our team.” New episodes of Shark Tank (Season 9) air Sundays at 9pm on ABC.
