Reload

Made from clean ingredients that are 100% natural and easy to identify. Reload includes high quality pea protein mixed with cricket powder. This creates a blend that is easy to digest, naturally high in protein and contains many micronutrients that help you build muscle and strength. This blend also has the lowest impact on the environment compared to traditional whey-based protein blend as we use less water, land and feed.

People want their brands to do more. We have teamed up with World Land Trust and for each tub sold save 1m2 of threatened habitat. This will help provide much needed space for endangered wildlife and incomes for local community. It’s something that should make you feel good as well.

The market has been dominated by whey protein, so the chances are that if you have used protein powders before you have been using whey. But things are now changing. Many people find consuming whey really upsets their stomach (I’m one of those) or brings them out acne. And this is even if they normally have no issues consuming diary (again that’s me!). It is also very cheap.

Reload is different. The combination of pea protein and cricket powder is unique. This blend is easy to digest so is very unlikely to cause any stomach upsets. We are all individuals so no guarantees but as far as we know no one has had any digestion issues. It will not cause acne. The protein is high quality, complete protein meaning it contains all the essential amino acids that the body cannot make. This means it will help you rebuild your muscle fibres.

Crickets are also classed as a super food as they are nutritionally dense. They contain lots of vitamins and minerals so we can say they have really been built for athletes. These nutrients can be found in Reload which is high in iron and Vitamin B12. They help you absorb oxygen and support cell connectivity ensuring that your muscles adsorb the nutrition they require to re-build strength.

We have mixed the natural ingredients with natural flavours to create a taste that isn’t too strong but clearly identifiable. We don’t put any additional sugar in but use a combination of natural stevia and lucuma fruit powder to deliver a rounded sweetness profile without being overly sweet as many mass market, cheaper blends can be. This way it is easy to drink before or after your exercise, sits lightly in your stomach and is less likely to repeat on you in an unpleasant way!

Our aim is to develop the most sustainable protein powder on the market and want to give you an idea of the steps we have taken. Our tubs and labels use 30% post-consumer material, the tubs are widely recycled in your bin. We send your order out in high quality, fully recyclable carboard boxes so no outer plastic bag is required. Compare that to other brands that use unrecyclable tubs and pouches. Some brands are using home compostable pouches which are fine for the small number of UK households with a home compost but for everyone else the packaging need to go to landfill releasing all their carbon.

Our ingredients use less of everything compared to traditional whey protein or plant proteins. Less water, less land, less CO². There is less risk of pollution as our crickets are farmed in a closed environment. While we look to source our ingredients in the UK as far as possible which reduces the impact of transport and maintains UK jobs which in turn contribute to the UK economy.

No. You won’t be able to see any crickets in Reload. In fact, if you just look at the powder it will be impossible to see any difference to other protein powders. However, the magic happens at a smaller level.

Our cricket powder has the smallest particle size of any cricket powder on the market. This means we keep all the superfood qualities in the powder plus it is smooth to drink, shake, blend or bake.

Slightly nutty base note, not overly sweet and not artificial. It has a low texture level with many describing it as light and fresh. That’s really important because when you are exercising you want something you can consume easily and not be overpowered by strong or sweet tastes.

Many protein powders we’ve tried – and we have tried a lot! – are overly sweet. That often hides lower quality pea protein which has a bitter/earthy taste. These overly sweet taste profile will work well for the first couple of mouthfuls but build to overwhelm your taste buds as you consume more. This makes it hard to consume. This overly sweet taste profile can create sugar cravings which maybe easy enough to deal with when you are training but on your rest days you will be searching for high sugar, sweet foods to satisfy that craving.

Our objective has been to develop a protein powder which is very drinkable, tasty, not overly sweet and light.

Yes. They are farmed in the UK to high ethical and hygienic standards. They are feed on an organic feed which is free from soy and gluten. Unlike other animal proteins, there are no antibiotics that can be used with crickets, so they are complete antibiotic free. After processing they are mixed and packed in a BRC accredited factory again in the UK. BRC is the highest food safety accreditation which means we could we this to mainstream supermarkets unlike a lot of protein brands.

Like most superfoods, cricket powder needs to be combined with other ingredients. This helps to make it palatable, keep the cost down and deliver to correct nutritional profile. Crickets are particularly easy to digest as they contain a natural prebiotic fibre. We want to ensure this was something we wanted to keep so choose a high-quality pea protein as it is known to be easy to digest.  This combination creates a complete protein that is high in BCAA’s. That is exactly what you want if you are looking to re-build muscle fibres.

You really do get what you pay for.

There are plenty of cheap brands using low quality protein sources. Whey is inherently cheap due to the mass production of diary. Many of the lowest quality whey comes from outside Europe with unknow animal welfare standards and an even higher impact on the environment.

The same can also be said for plant proteins. Many are grown in one place and often shipped to China for processing and then sent to another country to be blended and sold to the consumer. You can imagine the CO2 this creates.

As a new type of protein to Western cultures, most cricket powder is farmed in south east Asia and then shipped to the UK. We decided to source as many ingredients from the UK as possible which reduces CO2 emissions and gives us greater control over quality and animal welfare. That’s why we can say we have the highest welfare standards, lowest emissions and highest quality product on the market.

Early on in our product development we decided against using low quality, cheap artificial sweeteners. For these reasons, many people feel uncomfortable about taking them. What we did want to include is a natural sweetness to enhance their flavours without being overpowering.

Stevia is an ideal choice because it has a high level of sweetness, but you only require tiny amounts which leaves more room for protein. Other natural sweeteners have either restricted variability or require larger quantities. The downside of stevia is that it can have a bitter note if you use too much. We decided to pair it with lucuma powder, a fruit from South America, as together they create a rounded sweetness profile.

OK we get that as we all have different taste profiles. Fortunately, it is easy to increase the sweetness profile but adding less water/liquid. We recommend 250ml but try adding 200ml and see what you think. As an alternative you could add something sweet like fruit, honey or agave syrup.

Please let us know as we are always looking for ways to improve the taste.

With Reload we have developed a light tasting powder, not overly sweet, which has been designed to mix with water. By mixing it with water you know exactly the nutrients you are getting and it’s often the easiest to consume after exercise. It also mixes easily with plant milk or cow’s milk which will provide a slightly thick texture and mouthfeel due to the fat in these types of milks.

You can bake, make smoothies, use different beverages with Reload. It will not denature in heat, so you know exactly what you are consuming. We have some recipes in our blog pages to help inspire you. Take a look and let us know what you think.