Bassett Cricket Ranch

What Bassett Cricket Ranch does

Bassett Cricket Ranch, Inc. is a family-owned, direct-to-consumer e-commerce business founded in 1969 in Visalia, California, that cultivates and ships live feeder insects — primarily crickets, mealworms, and related species — to reptile owners, fishermen, and pet retailers across the United States and internationally. The company operates from a 48,000-square-foot environmentally controlled campus that produces more than three million crickets per week, and it sells through its own online storefront at bcrcricket.com with a same-day shipping cutoff (2:00 PM Pacific), a year-round live-delivery guarantee, and an Autoship recurring-order program powered by QPilot. Its product catalog spans flagship crickets, the Snookum's Best sub-brand of mealworms, king/giant/super mealworms, waxworms, black soldier fly larvae, dubia roaches, fruit flies, nightcrawlers, and small accessories such as feeder cups and cricket/worm food.

Under the hood, the business is a vertically integrated live-goods operation: in-house biological cultivation, packaging, fulfillment, and customer service are performed by 25+ employees at the single Visalia site, with multi-generational family expertise (founders Dale and Dorothy Bassett; current President/CEO Russ Bassett; VP Russell Bassett; Production Manager Carlos Gonzalez) supplying the core husbandry knowledge. The revenue model combines transactional one-time DTC orders with a growing Autoship subscription stream, priced per unit across volume tiers (crickets $7.50–$21.00; mealworms up to $85.00 for 10,000-count). The company is privately held with no disclosed outside investors, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity; its primary brand-equity assets are 55+ years of continuous operation and a New York Times feature.

Name

Bassett Cricket Ranch

Legal name

Bassett's Cricket Ranch, Inc.

Website

https://bcrcricket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bassett Cricket Ranch is a family-owned e-commerce company founded in 1969 in Visalia, California, that cultivates and ships live feeder crickets, mealworms, and related insects to reptile owners, fishermen, and pet retailers in the U.S. and abroad.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Feeder Insects

NAICS

Other Animal Production (1129)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Insect Farming (Crickets, Mealworms, Black Soldier Fly) (AFAEAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Insect & Live Feed (Crickets, Mealworms, Feeder Roaches) (AFADAFAM)

Keywords

• Live feeder insects
• Feeder crickets supply
• Reptile food insects
• Mealworms wholesale
• Live fishing bait

Headquarters

HQ city

Visalia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Direct Product Sales: One-time purchase model for live feeder insects sold directly to consumers through e-commerce. Products include crickets, mealworms, and various other feeder insects with volume-based pricing tiers.
2. Autoship Subscription: Recurring subscription model allowing customers to automatically reorder favorite products on their schedule. Customers can easily change products or shipping date and pause/cancel anytime.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Bassett Cricket Ranch cultivates and sells live feeder insects — primarily crickets, multiple varieties of mealworms, waxworms, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, fruit flies, and nightcrawlers — directly to consumers and retailers via its own e-commerce store. The 48,000 sq ft environmentally controlled facility in Visalia, California produces more than 3 million crickets per week, with year-round live delivery, same-day shipping, and an Autoship subscription option.

Product overview

Bassett Cricket Ranch is a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform selling live feeder insects for reptiles, birds, and fishing. The product portfolio centers on crickets (their flagship product since 1969), various mealworm variants (Snookum's Best Feeder Mealworms, Snookum's Giant Mealworms, King Mealworms/Superworms), and complementary insects (Waxworms, Black Soldier Fly Larvae, Dubia Roaches, Fruit Flies, Nightcrawlers). The company operates as a single unified online store with an Autoship recurring-order feature. Product categories include core live insects, accessories (Feeder Cricket Cup, Cricket/Worm Food), and the Autoship subscription service for automatic reordering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Snookum's Best: Snookum's Best is a sub-brand of Bassett Cricket Ranch featuring feeder mealworms and related products including Snookum's Best Feeder Mealworms.
• Snookum's Giant Mealworms

Products and services

• Crickets
• Snookum's Best Feeder Mealworms
• King Mealworms (Superworms)
• Snookum's Giant Mealworms
• Waxworms
• Black Soldier Fly Larvae
• Dubia Roaches
• Fruit Flies
• Nightcrawlers
• Cricket/Worm Food
• Feeder Cricket Cup
• Autoship Subscription Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Guaranteed year-round live delivery of feeder crickets and mealworms
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fluker Farms: Fluker Farms is one of the largest U.S. producers of live crickets, mealworms, and other feeder insects, founded in 1953. Direct competitor to Bassett in DTC reptile food and feeder insects, with similar product breadth and captive cultivation model.
• Timberline Live Pet Foods: Timberline Live Pet Foods produces and sells live crickets, mealworms, and other feeder invertebrates directly to reptile hobbyists and pet stores. Directly comparable feeder-insect manufacturer with nationwide shipping and similar SKU range to Bassett.
• Top Hat Cricket Farm: Top Hat Cricket Farm is a Georgia-based commercial cricket farm selling live crickets, mealworms, and reptiles online. Closely comparable DTC feeder insect operation competing in the same channels as Bassett.
• Ghann's Cricket Farm: Ghann's Cricket Farm, operating since 1969 in Augusta, GA, raises and sells live crickets, worms, and other bait/feeder insects. A long-tenured direct competitor with nearly identical operating history and product set to Bassett.
• Premium Crickets: Premium Crickets is a U.S. feeder cricket supplier selling live crickets in bulk counts for reptile and amphibian keepers. A focused direct competitor on the flagship product category shared with Bassett.
• Symton (Dubia Roaches): Symton is a specialty breeder and online retailer of dubia roaches and other feeder insects for the reptile hobbyist market. Comparable live-feeder e-commerce operator competing for the same customers as Bassett's expanded insect line.

Emerging players

• Josh's Frogs: Josh's Frogs is an online retailer of feeder insects (crickets, dubia roaches, fruit flies, etc.) alongside amphibians and supplies. Overlaps with Bassett in feeder insects but is also a broader live-animal and supply brand.
• Aspire Food Group: Aspire Food Group is a large-scale insect farming operator specializing in cricket protein for pet food and human nutrition. Shares Bassett's cricket-farming core technology but is focused on processed/protein applications rather than live feeder insects.

Broad incumbents

• Chewy: Chewy is the largest U.S. online pet retailer carrying feeder insects, reptile supplies, and live pets. A broad incumbent that competes with Bassett for reptile-owner wallets and could verticalize into feeder insect production over time.
• PetSmart: PetSmart operates the largest U.S. specialty pet retail chain and sells feeder insects alongside reptile supplies. An incumbent channel partner and potential substitute buyer that competes with Bassett's retail-establishment customer segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bcrcricket
• Facebookfacebook.com/BCRCRICKET

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bassett Cricket Ranch