Zachery Schubert is a star beach volleyball player who represented Australia at the Paris Olympics, but his sporting career is only a small part of who he is, and he knows exactly what he will be doing in life when the time comes to retire from beach volleyball.
Zach holds a Bachelor of Nutrition Studies from the University of South Australia, and in 2018 he put his degree to work by founding Schubugs, a cricket farm which combines his passion for health, nutrition, and farming.
Zach told Flow FM “I always loved farming. I grew up on a dryland farm in an orange orchard just out of Loxton, South Australia, probably about 10 kms out of town”.
Producing and selling bugs for human consumption is a future goal for Schubugs.
“Our farm hasn't actually reached the stages of where we're doing human consumption products. We're definitely still just doing the pet market side of things, which is still really good for us. But eventually if we can grow to a scale where we are able to do human consumption stuff, I think it will be really, really cool.”
“We'll see where the actual business ends up and it's just something that I'm passionate about, which is awesome to have outside of volleyball”.
Zach cited sustainability and nutritional benefits as the two major reasons people may choose to indulge in bugs as a part of their diet.
“They are super sustainable; they use little to no resources to be able to produce a kilo of body weight versus cattle or sheep and pigs. You’ve also got the health benefit too where 100 grams of cricket powder is around 69% protein, which is pretty incredible”.
The mere thought of eating a cricket would be daunting – horrifying, even – for most people, but Zach clarified that his insects would be presented in a consumer-friendly manner.
“I don't necessarily see people eating a whole cricket moving forward. If they're going to be consuming some sort of insect-based product moving forward, it will be in a powdered form, like a protein powder or a protein bar.”
“It's a neutral taste, which is the best part about it. There are obviously other insects out there that people do eat that have a lot more of a powerful flavour, but with Crickets it just tastes like nothing, that's the best way to describe it”
Zach still has goals in his beach volleyball career, including standing on the podium at the 2028 Olympics, but when his career eventually ends it will be all systems go for Schubugs.
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