Laura Bolognesi: transforming a traditional Italian treat with cricket flour

An award-winning innovation reframes Italy’s beloved taralli through the lens of sustainability, proving that insect-based protein can be delicious, nutritious, and wildly popular.

06 Aug 2025

EIT Food South

5 min reading time

Featured startup

C’era un Tarallo

Learn more about C’era un Tarallo

When Laura Bolognesi joined the EIT Food Master’s in Food Systems (MFS) programme, she didn’t imagine she’d soon be selling out batches of taralli made with crickets. But six months later, that’s exactly what happened. Her brand, C’era un Tarallo, takes a beloved Southern Italian snack and gives it a future-forward twist: replacing some of the wheat with cricket flour to create a high-protein, low-impact alternative that still tastes like home.  
  
What began as a student project became a fully-fledged startup, winning the EIT Food MFS Graduation Award for Entrepreneurial Potential and selling its first 1,200-package batch in just six days. Since then, C’era un Tarallo has been scaling up, with expanded flavours, export ambitions, and working on a solid plan to pivot from a B2C to a B2B model.

The challenge: climate-smart nutrition in familiar forms

Feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 without accelerating environmental collapse is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Agriculture already accounts for over a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, consumes 70% of the world’s freshwater, and occupies half of all habitable land. (1) To meet future demand sustainably, alternative protein sources are essential.  

One of the most promising is cricket flour. Crickets require 12 times less feed than cattle, emit 100 times less greenhouse gases, (2) and need minimal land or water to farm. They’re also nutrient-dense, containing up to 70% protein, all essential amino acids, (3) plus iron, calcium and vitamin B12.  

Yet in Europe, edible insects still face cultural resistance (4). That’s why, rather than disguising crickets or introducing unfamiliar formats, C’era un Tarallo embraced tradition.  

Taralli, a crunchy, ring-shaped savoury biscuit popular in the south of Italy, became the perfect vehicle for normalising edible insects. By embedding a novel ingredient into a beloved snack, Laura and her team made it approachable, even desirable. 

From the classroom to the shelf, in six months 

With support from EIT Food, Laura transformed her idea into a market-ready product in record time. She teamed up with two friends - one marketing expert and one finance professional - and decided to focus on bakery products. By the end of her MFS programme, she had launched three flavours of taralli and secured distribution via Small Giants’ website, an Italian pioneer in insect-based food products. The product sold out within days, validating not just the flavour, but the broader appetite for sustainable innovation rooted in authenticity.  

“I was just curious at first,” Laura recalls. “I started with very few entrepreneurial skills - maybe around 15% of what I have now - just curiosity, really. But the master’s programme was essential in helping me grow that to around 60%. The network, the mentors, and the opportunities to engage with professors and peers were fundamental.”  

Laura’s mentors during her Master's in Food Systems came from diverse backgrounds, including academic professors who helped her with the scientific and technological aspects (such as the development of her high protein taralli prototype), and international peers who offered fresh market perspectives.  

“This blend of local and international insight was crucial,” she says. “Some mentors helped me scientifically, others helped me understand market dynamics, especially from different countries.”  

Since then, C’era un Tarallo has expanded its range to 14 flavour varieties and is exploring retail opportunities in the UK, France, and Germany. Recently, the company began discussing a partnership with a Mexican sauce producer to develop pepper–flavoured taralli, and is actively working towards a pivot from a B2C to a B2B model.  

The master’s programme didn’t just provide knowledge - it opened doors. Laura currently works as a sensory scientist and product developer for Foreverland Food, a startup producing cocoa-free alternative chocolates. Her entrepreneurial experience with C’era un Tarallo was a key factor in landing this role, as employers valued her hands-on business acumen.   

“I never would have started my own company if it wasn’t for the EIT Food Master's in Food Systems programme. During the programme I found my true calling in food science and the entrepreneurship and business development training enabled me to commercialise my idea.”

- Laura Bolognesi, Founder of C’era un Tarallo and former EIT Food Master in Food Systems student

Healthy people, healthy planet, and local pride 

But the impact goes far beyond the product itself. Based in Puglia, one of Italy’s economically depressed regions, C’era un Tarallo is helping to preserve and revitalise local artisanal food traditions. By collaborating with a small, family-run bakery that has resisted pressure to industrialise, the startup supports a sustainable, craft-based economy rooted in heritage. Laura’s project provides a meaningful alternative to mass production, offering artisans a viable market for their skills.

“The social impact is important,” she says. “Customers appreciate that the product comes from a small-town bakery, and it supports local producers who otherwise might be squeezed out by industrial competition.”

- Laura Bolognesi

Top 3 lessons learned when launching a startup:

1. Start with culture, not just curiosity

Embedding innovation into something familiar, like taralli, makes radical ideas (like cricket flour) more acceptable and appealing.

2. Launch fast and learn

Laura turned a student project into a sell-out product in six months by combining academic mentorship, peer feedback, and agile product development.

3. Local roots can drive global reach

By collaborating with a small-town bakery, Laura preserved artisan values while building a scalable, export-ready brand.

From curiosity to category: what’s next?  

Sales have remained consistent after a strong start, and the venture can sustain itself financially. Through her recent work with Foreverland Food, Laura has continued to expand her technical and entrepreneurial skills. She has also applied for schemes like Empowering Women in the AgriFood (EWA), seeking funding to accelerate development.

C’era un Tarallo represents a compelling fusion of tradition and innovation. Though the journey is ongoing, the startup offers a promising blueprint for introducing sustainable, alternative proteins through familiar formats, supporting both local producers and broader food system transformation.  

“This project was a huge part of both my career and C’era un Tarallo’s history,” she notes. “It showed that alternative protein products can succeed commercially and be well received.”  

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