12
Business
A boy hangs up sheets to catch crickets flying at night in Siem Reap province last month. Cricket numbers have fallen this year, spurring imports to meet demand.
Imports fly as crickets disappear
Daniel Pordes and Tang Khyhay
A
DECLINE in the
number of crickets
caught this year has
Cambodia’s insect
industry struggling to meet
demand for one of the King-
dom’s favourite snacks.
Cricket farmers, wholesalers
and market vendors alike are
having to raise prices, import
from abroad and breed their
own insects – as overharvest-
ing and flooding threaten their
livelihoods.
Seven kilometers outside
Kampong Thom Town, in San-
tuk district, 46-year-old Penh
Menghart has been catching
the insects for more than four
years, assisted by her two teen-
age children who worked in a
nearby brick factory to raise
the 2.6 million riels (US$615)
necessary to start the budding
enterprise.
“It’s hard work because ev-
A boy holds some crickets in his hands. Crickets, after being fried with spices and sauces, are a popular
snack in the Kingdom. SOVAN PHILONG
ery cricket season, I have to be
awake all night, every night. I
never get any sleep,” she said,
squatting next to the side of
her bamboo shack alongside
National Road 6.
Along the roadside, 15 bam-
boo poles 2 metres apart are
wrapped tightly in sheets of
plastic.
At the height of the cricket
season, the sheets will be un-
furled and topped by a blue
fluorescent tube, powered by
a diesel generator, to lure the
insects.
Another plastic sheet will
be stretched beneath to catch
the bugs as they crash to the
ground, stunned.
“During the cricket season,
I can normally catch 4 to 5 ki-
lograms of crickets per night,”
she said.
But like many insect harvest-
ers, she saw a drop in cricket
numbers from April to June –
when the nights were largely
moonless. Too often this year
she caught just 1 kilogram per
night, for which she was paid
10,000 riels.
“The number of crickets was
a lot less than last year, maybe
due to the flooding. Last year,
I made a profit of US$100, this
year I will just about be able to
feed my family,” she said.
The government has rec-
ognised dwindling cricket re-
serves. Officials have pointed
to overharvesting as a possible
cause.
Ith Nody, under secretary
of state at the Ministry of Ag-
riculture, said Sunday: “The
cricket numbers are decreas-
ing. It can be a very profitable
business for people. Lots of
people like to eat them.”
However, he remained un-
concerned about the future of
the insect, highlighting the po-
tential for crickets to damage
crops and the large number of
young the insects produce.
Nevertheless, this does little
to calm Penh Menghart or
assure her future. Fuel costs
weigh heavily on her mind. It
costs 20,000 riels each night
to pay for the five litres of fuel
needed to power the cricket-
attracting lights and with no
transport or means to store
bugs, she is unable to expand
her business.
She remains at the mercy
of the insect population and
the purchasing power of the
wholesalers – who act as mid-
dlemen between the farmers
and markets, and maintain a
monopoly on pricing.
“I used to live in a small
house. Now, look, I have a
big house,” said beaming 44-
year-old cricket wholesaler,
Chhon Somarom, gesturing at
her home in Kampong Thom
town.
Outside the two-storey
building, four large sealed
polystyrene boxes are piled
I hope that breeding my own
will yield enough crickets for
market demand – no more
depending on nature.”
up with ice and 160 kilograms
of chilled crickets ready for
transport.
“We take them to markets at
Chbah Ampeau [in south-east
Phnom Penh] and Skuon [the
capital of Cheung Prey district,
Kampong Cham province],
where we sell them for 14,000
riels per kilogram to other
wholesalers or small vendors,”
she said.
Upon receiving a call from
the cricket farmers in the early
hours of the morning, she will
collect the fresh catch.
After loading the still-wrig-
gling bagfuls of crickets into
her truck, she drives back to
THE PHNOM PENH POST JULY 27, 2010
SOVAN PHILONG
her house, where they are put
into large iceboxes. The in-
sects are killed by the cold and
kept fresh for storage.
But despite a monthly profit
of around 800,000 riels, the
17-year veteran of Cambodia’s
cricket industry is also wor-
ried about a depleted cricket
supply.
“They are decreasing every
year. People are harvesting
too many, even during their
breeding season,” she said.
“Every year I export my sur-
plus to Thailand. Last year I
sent 45 tonnes, this year I had
only a third of that to sell.”
Depleted stocks meant this
year she also chose to import
insects from Thailand to help
meet domestic demand – a
situation that has brought its
own pricing concerns.
“Imports from Thailand
cost me 170 baht ($5.25) per
kilo, but when I export, [Thai
importers] will only pay 120
baht per kilo. I also have
to pay around 50,000 riels
to customs officials when I
bring them into Cambodia,”
she said.
But a solution may be at
hand. Thailand’s market con-
tinues to thrive as crickets are
bred in captivity, a develop-
ment that Chhon Somarom
plans to undertake in the near
future.
The wholesaler plans to in-
spect breeding farms in Thai-
land and learn the best meth-
ods for feeding and housing
the crickets.
“I hope that breeding my
own will yield enough crick-
ets for market demand – no
more depending on nature,”
she said.
With a ready supply of in-
sects, markets in neighbour-
ing countries may also open
up.
“Today I got a call for the
first time from a Vietnamese
buyer, so I really need to get
more crickets,” she said.
Also dealing with the oc-
casional Vietnamese buyer is
her daughter Yerm Sopheak,
19, whose day starts with a
sizzle at 7am at Kampong
Thom town market.
Wielding a large spatula,
she shovels a large portion of
chilled crickets into a large,
bubbling oil-filled wok. Pop-
ping and spitting, the crickets
are deep-fried with sauce and
spices, before being taken out
and put on two large plates.
“I get several Vietnamese
customers here,” she said, as
the crickets cook away, their
heads and wings glistening
in the oil. “They are the most
common foreigners.”
But supply has been a prob-
lem for the market vendor, as
prices demanded by whole-
salers have risen this year.
“Raw crickets now have
a price of around 13,000 to
14,000 riels per kilogram;
that’s increased by 5,000 riels
per kilogram since 2009,” she
said.
Although she is concerned
about the rise in price, her cus-
tomers seem unconcerned.
Munching on a handful
sneaked from two piles of
cooked insects as he waits for
Yerm Sopheak to scoop up a
can of the chili-flavoured va-
riety, Chhon Chamroeun, 26,
remains unperturbed.
“The price always seems
stable to me: A can is 2,000 ri-
els,” he said, between crunchy
mouthfuls. “And I love them.
They taste great.”