A dish of cricket mince with hummus and crudités (pictured) by Sam Clark of Moro will feature on the menu at a pop-up – should that be hop-up? – restaurant that opens at Old Street this month.

Yum Bug, the company behind the project, has won backing from James Watt of BrewDog and Holly Branson of Virgin to showcase ultra-sustainable insect-based cuisine. The pop-up, in the new The Bower development, launches on October 26, with chefs including Chantelle Nicholson of Apricity and Finn Tonry Brown from Trullo also contributing dishes.

Yum Bug breeds crickets on a vertical farm in Cambridgeshire which uses a fraction of the land, water and feed required by traditional livestock, resulting in carbon emissions that are one tenth of the equivalent cattle farm. Advocates say insect-based cuisine offers a highly sustainable, low-carbon and healthy form of protein that can be delivered at scale and could slash the carbon footprint of diets.

“We’re buzzing to see Yum Bug pop up in East London this autumn,” said Leo Taylor, Yum Bug co-founder and CEO. “The backing of James Watt and some incredible chefs bring us one step closer to our mission to show people that bugs are banging – not only in taste, but also for our health and the environment.”

The company added that its ingredients are due to “launch in major restaurant chains in early 2024“.