Protein powder start-up, Protein Rebel, has won ‘Most Sustainable Product’ in the prestigious European Specialist Sports Nutrition Awards (ESSNawards).
Protein Rebel’s Reload post-workout powder, which contains cricket and plants, beat stiff competition from established European brands to take victory.
The ESSNawards are designed to honour the most successful products within the sports nutrition world.
Crewe-based Protein Rebel founder, Tim Boote, says “We launched Protein Rebel less than six months’ ago and so we’re incredibly proud to be acknowledged as a leading player in the sports nutrition industry.
For Reload to be named Europe’s most sustainable sports nutrition product recognises the environmental credentials of the ingredients we’ve chosen, particularly our UK-farmed powdered crickets.”
Launched in August 2020, Protein Rebel provides sustainable and all-natural high protein powders. The range includes two vegan varieties (Recover and Replace) and Reload, which contains the novel ingredient of crickets.
Unlike whey-based protein powders, crickets are highly sustainable as they require very little land, water and feed, and only emit one gram of CO2 for every kilo. Cows on the other hand emit nearly 3000 grams of carbon for every kilo of beef.
As well as being a sustainable choice, crickets are perfect for boosting protein levels as they contain more protein than beef. They’re also full of fibre, iron and various vitamins and minerals.
Boote adds, “It’s great that the sports industry is putting a spotlight on sustainability as it needs to develop more products with this in mind, taking into account ingredients, product development and packaging. We look forward to pushing forward the sustainability agenda with our eco-friendly range.”