We recently connected with Lucy Arnell and have shared our conversation below.
Lucy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
While I was a student at the Institute of Culinary Education, we were making so many broths and stocks every day, from scratch. And, we would use the liquid to create our concoctions. Each class had a designated chef in charge of it, and it became clear from early on that this powerful base was an integral, important component of cooking.
With SAUTERELLE, my original dream was to create a broth using grasshoppers in the traditional way a fumet (fish stock) or traditional broth was made – by simmering the bones / shells in liquid for about 45 minutes to an hour. Not quite as potent as a bone broth, which is actually more like a stock, a classic broth is light yet still nutritious, and adds umami flavor and nutrients to dishes that use it as an ingredient. It also makes for a delicious, nourishing sipping beverage, akin to a healthy snack or energy shot.
The SAUTERELLE broth, the grasshopper broth, was delicious. In my mind, it tasted more delicious than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams. It was umami, earthy, a bit miso-like, with a delicate sweetness and savory tang to be craved. And, as a very novice brand owner, I decided it wouldn’t get better.
Then, the issues. We had two main hurdles with selling SAUTERELLE as a liquid. First, to properly produce and bottle broth, it would have to be made in a co-packing facility that operates according to the highest, safest standards, as bottling hot liquid safely can be a precarious task, requiring advanced equipment able to do so in a sanitary way. Not only would this be incredibly expensive to front production costs without having even had any customers yet or having launched, but it would have to be done on equipment that doesn’t process any other food except insect food (FDA rule). Hence, I would have to make my own facility (as this does not exist in the United States).
The second hurdle was the logistics and cost of shipping liquid – it’s heavy, and requires temperature control. While many companies do this, as a pre-revenue startup, it would have been far too costly.
I felt defeated, and because I was young and naive, I didn’t see a future, immediately. My mom told me that what defines a brand owner is not necessarily the success of the original idea, but the ability of the inventor to evolve and grow the product as necessary to make it make sense.
I went back to the drawing board with the help of my family, and it was that brainstorm that led to where SAUTERELLE is today. Our grasshopper broth is sold in the form of bespoke powdered blend, with a recipe even more delicious than the liquid version – an outcome I couldn’t have imagined back when I was a wee culinary student.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I had the fortune of growing up in New York City with parents who were very busy. I spent half my time in their office, and the other half of the time experiencing the culinary world of the big apple. Somewhere as a child, there was a passion for hospitality developed that I wouldn’t realize until much later in life.
During COVID, I found myself with time on my hands and a lot of energy. For the first time in my life, I was cooking for myself. I cooked myself about 80lbs lighter, simply by eating at home and making better culinary choices for myself. I still ate A LOT of Rodolphe Le Meunier butter – a fact I am proud of. The power of food, which had always soothed my unease, now inspired me to act. I applied for and was miraculously accepted into culinary school just 2 weeks before the start of the semester.
Studying the history and science of food was fascinating, as well was studying and experiencing first-hand the effects of food waste. Each day, we threw away almost all of the food we cooked. I hated to do it, and I hated to watch it.
One day, we saw a documentary about the late Jonathan Gold (RIP!), eating fried silk worms at Jitlada, discussing with a friend about how the health benefits of insects are not outweighed by the sustainability advantage, which is huge. Eating insect meat is one of the only instances where humans can consume the ENTIRE body. With grasshoppers and other insects being defined by biology as “animals” and “animal meat,” this idea captivated me.
Qualitative social and cultural observations my whole life made me believe that it was the creepy, crawly, crunchy bits that turned American people off of eating whole insects, but they had less of a problem eating them if they were hidden in something like a protein bar or chips. With all the broths and stocks and waste, somewhere, SAUTERELLE lit me up like a lightbulb.
With SAUTERELLE, we want to present a distinctly delicious delicacy that has potential to provide substantial nutrition while also greatly reducing carbon emissions in a way never seen before – as a silky, smooth, pure broth. Broths are the best way to boil up all the unsavory bits, leaving only the best, flavorful, nutritional parts behind in the form of a golden elixir. Broths are also a great way to incorporate an ingredient into a meal without dominating the recipe. We want to make grasshopper broth the newest household staple.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Our reputation is growing in the market because we are the only brand in our category. That makes it wonderful and difficult at the same time. On one hand, we are disruptors, being the first-ever of our kind. On the other hand, while fascination is high, being so new and with little examples to follow, people aren’t sure how we fit into their store shelves and lives.
That’s where marketing, positioning and branding come play an important role. We educate the consumer on how SAUTERELLE will enhance their lives.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
We currently sell D2C on our own site, and are available on Amazon and Faire. Our TikTok shop is coming soon!
While I am the first person to romanticize the success of the small business owner and fight for the rights of workers, the cost of living is so exorbitantly high that people today are working harder than ever just to make ends meet. Free time is becoming more and more of a fleeting concept as well as paying premium for ma and pa shop goods. My philosophy is to always have compassion for the consumer – why exile someone from your brand just because they are the kind of client who seeks an easy platform like Amazon to do their shopping? As an example, what if they are a single mom, working double time without time to even go to the grocery store? That person deserves access to the best they can get. And I want to give that to them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eatsauterelle.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatsauterelle
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatsauterelle
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-arnell-b37612240/
- Twitter: https://x.com/EatSauterelle
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuNw4qM6SqE
