The partnership between Solmax and AgruniekRijnVallei shows why even a seemingly simple component can play an important role in an increasingly efficient and automated mushroom farm.

Some of the most important technology on a mushroom farm is easy to overlook.

A growing net is pulled through the production process again and again. It carries considerable loads, has to run straight and smoothly, and in some modern growing systems may be put to work every few weeks. A small difference in material, construction or finishing can therefore become significant over years of intensive use.

For Solmax and AgruniekRijnVallei (AR), that is exactly where an interesting partnership has developed. One company brings decades of expertise in weaving and materials; the other brings the product to the grower, adding confectioning, service and extensive practical knowledge of mushroom production.

The result is not simply a different way of distributing Nicolon® mushroom nets. It is a shorter connection between the people who make the material and those who use it every day.

Start with what you do best
When Örjan joined the horticultural activities at TenCate, what is now Solmax around four years ago, he began looking at how the company's mushroom materials reached the market.

AR was already selling Nicolon® growing nets and had been active in the mushroom sector for many years. What changed was the way the two companies began working together. Rather than maintaining a traditional supplier-dealer relationship, they gradually developed a partnership in which responsibilities, market knowledge and customer contact became much more closely connected.

Solmax is a global materials company with manufacturing operations around the world. Its expertise lies in developing and producing woven materials. But a mushroom grower does not buy a large roll of material and consider the job finished. The material needs to be converted into nets of exactly the right width and length. It needs to reach the farm when required. And if a net is damaged, someone needs to be able to assess whether it can be repaired.

Örjan saw an opportunity to organise that final part of the chain differently. Solmax has the expertise to develop and weave the material, but it is not set up to visit individual growers, take measurements, discuss the requirements of a particular growing system or provide local service when needed. “We weave. Weaving is our core business,” he explains.

Confectioning, measuring on site, made-to-measure delivery, repairs, distribution and direct contact with growers could therefore remain with a partner much closer to the market. AR already knew that market well; the difference was that the cooperation now developed into a much closer partnership.

Thirty years cannot be put on a specification sheet
The other half of the partnership becomes clear as soon as Pascal starts talking about mushroom growing.

He has been part of the sector for more than thirty years. After studying at the Mushroom Cultivation Vocational School in Horst, he worked in mushroom production himself before moving to the supply side of the business. Over the years, he travelled throughout the Netherlands, built relationships with growers and developed a detailed understanding of the systems in which the nets are used.

Today, AR receives Nicolon® material on large rolls and turns it into finished products for individual farms. If a customer needs one hundred nets of thirty metres in a particular width, that is what is produced.

During our visit to AR in Dreumel, Pascal shows us how much practical knowledge is involved in turning the material into a finished growing net. Material is measured, cut and finished accurately. Different growing systems require different dimensions. The length of a net influences the forces it has to withstand, while the frequency with which it moves through a system affects wear.

And when something goes wrong, the answer is not automatically to sell a new net. Some nets are worth repairing. With others, the labour involved would cost more than replacement. For Pascal, knowing the difference is simply part of knowing the customer and the specific needs. That knowledge is difficult to manufacture.

The feedback loop
This is where the partnership becomes more interesting than a conventional manufacturer-distributor relationship.

Pascal sees how the material behaves in practice. Solmax understands how changes in fibres and weaving influence its properties. Those two sources of knowledge increasingly feed into one another.

Örjan and Pascal visit customers together, travel together and discuss developments in the market. New materials are not only evaluated technically but also tested with growers under real production conditions. During our visit, they describe developments that have already been in practical testing for around a year and a half.

“We think together about the market,” Örjan says. He readily acknowledges that Pascal brings something different to the table. “He is much more technical and practical than I am.”
That difference appears to be precisely the point. The manufacturer does not have to become the local service company, and the service company does not have to become a materials manufacturer. Each contributes what the other does not have.

A net is not just a net
On the production floor, that becomes tangible.

Pascal shows us several Nicolon® constructions, referred to during our visit as the 303, 333 and 343 qualities. Depending on the application, additional high-strength Dyneema fibres can be incorporated into the construction.

Not every application needs the same solution. Longer nets can be exposed to greater forces. Adding more high-performance material can increase strength, but Dyneema is also expensive. Using it where it adds no practical benefit would therefore make little sense. The discussion is not simply about making the strongest possible net. It is about making the appropriate net for the application.

The partners are also working on further developments. Laboratory testing is combined with trials at mushroom farms before decisions are made about introducing a new construction more widely.
According to Pascal, growers also notice practical differences in how the material behaves. He describes the Nicolon® nets as smoother and easier to pull, something he relates to the way the material is woven. In his experience, that can matter during filling and emptying and in keeping a net running correctly through the system. It is a reminder that performance is not defined by one number on a technical datasheet.

Let the grower decide
Both men make no secret of their confidence in Nicolon®. Pascal in particular is convinced of its quality. But interestingly, his preferred way of proving that is not by talking down competing products. Quite the opposite.

Pascal is careful to point out that other products have their own specifications and that growers may have long-standing relationships with other suppliers. His argument is simpler: let them experience the difference. “Just try it.”

In the Netherlands, the mushroom sector is small enough for experiences to travel quickly. Growers know one another. They see what colleagues are using and hear what works and what does not. That makes trust more valuable than a hard sales pitch.

“You have to stay honest with people,” Pascal says. And that also means not selling something simply because you can. If a net can be repaired economically, repair it. If an expensive construction is unnecessary for a particular application, there is little reason to recommend it. For Pascal, that is not separate from sales. It is how long-term sales relationships are built.

When every two weeks becomes normal
At the same time, the environment in which these nets operate is changing.

Mushroom farms are becoming larger, labour is more expensive and production systems are being designed for greater throughput. In some systems, nets are pulled in and out considerably more frequently than they once were.

Pascal gives the example of a system in which nets can be used every fourteen days. Compare that with a system where the same operation takes place once a month or less, and the difference in lifetime loading becomes obvious. “It is all friction.”

In practice, they encounter growing nets that remain in use for many years, sometimes around a decade or even longer. But age alone says relatively little. A net's working life depends heavily on how intensively it is used and in which system.

Automation is likely to increase those demands further. During our conversation, the discussion moves naturally towards robotic harvesting and increasingly automated growing systems. Neither Pascal nor Örjan claims to know exactly what the mushroom farm of the future will look like.

But they do not expect the growing net simply to disappear tomorrow. As long as substrate still needs to move through growing systems, nets continue to have a role. What is changing is what growers expect from them: reliability, predictable performance and compatibility with processes in which downtime and unnecessary handling become increasingly expensive.

Trust does not stop at the Dutch border
The same philosophy is now being taken further internationally.

Solmax already operates globally, while the mushroom sector works through networks of distributors, suppliers and local representatives. In the final part of our conversation, Örjan describes how enquiries from markets such as Poland are discussed with existing partners rather than simply being pursued independently. Other international markets are served through distribution and logistics partners, while Pascal and Örjan also travel together to develop opportunities.

An important part of this international network is Sylvan, with whom both AR Plant and Solmax maintain a particularly close relationship. Sylvan plays a key role in the worldwide marketing and distribution of Nicolon® growing nets to end users across international markets. This cooperation is exclusive: Sylvan distributes Nicolon® growing nets exclusively, further strengthening the connection between manufacturing expertise, local service and growers around the world.

That requires clear agreements, but both return repeatedly to something less formal: trust. A contract can define territories and responsibilities. It cannot create a functioning partnership on its own. The communication between manufacturer, AR, distributors and growers therefore matters as much as the physical movement of the material.

The value around the product
Perhaps that is the most interesting lesson from looking closely at the role of a growing net within modern mushroom production.

Solmax could simply manufacture material. AR could simply cut and sell it. A distributor could simply move it from one country to another. But modern mushroom production increasingly demands more than a chain of individual suppliers.

A manufacturer needs feedback from the growing room. A grower needs someone who understands the application. New materials need to be tested outside the laboratory. And when something goes wrong, somebody has to take responsibility rather than point further down the supply chain.

That is where the partnership between Solmax and AgruniekRijnVallei has found its strength. Solmax brings material technology and manufacturing expertise. AR adds confectioning, speed, service and decades of practical mushroom knowledge. International partners extend that combination into other markets. And information travels back in the opposite direction.

The Nicolon® growing net sits in the middle of it all. And the closer you get to the mushroom farm, the clearer it becomes that its real value is not only woven into the material. It is also woven into the knowledge, service and trust around it.

A newly published study explores how artificial intelligence could make freshness assessment of white button mushrooms faster, cheaper and much more accessible.

Mushrooms are highly perishable, making reliable quality assessment important throughout packing, storage, transport and retail. Advanced techniques such as hyperspectral imaging can detect subtle changes in mushroom tissue, but these systems are relatively expensive and difficult to deploy throughout the supply chain.

Researchers have now developed an approach that transfers the knowledge obtained from hyperspectral imaging to a much smaller AI model that works with ordinary RGB images, the type produced by a smartphone camera.

The system was trained to recognise physical deterioration patterns in Agaricus bisporus. Once this knowledge had been transferred to the lightweight smartphone model, it achieved a classification accuracy of 81.11% while requiring only 0.2 million parameters.

Perhaps more interesting for practical use is its speed. The researchers report an inference time of just 18.6 milliseconds on a standard mobile CPU, allowing freshness assessments to be performed in real time without specialised computing equipment.

The technology could eventually give growers, packers, distributors and retailers an inexpensive additional tool for monitoring mushroom quality. Instead of relying only on visual judgement or laboratory equipment, a smartphone or similar device could potentially provide an instant AI-assisted freshness assessment.

The researchers also developed the system to cope with the more complex backgrounds found in retail environments, suggesting that the idea is already being considered beyond controlled laboratory conditions.

Further real-world validation will be necessary before such technology becomes part of everyday quality control. Nevertheless, transferring sophisticated spectral knowledge into something as accessible as a smartphone illustrates how advanced AI could gradually find its way into very practical parts of the mushroom supply chain.

Source: ScienceDirect

Belgian tech company Heliovision has developed Funghii, an AI-driven solution tailored to the mushroom industry. Combining smart software with hardware such as cameras and sensors, the system continuously monitors crop growth. It captures key data from growing rooms: taking hourly images of beds, tracking temperature and humidity levels, and more. This information is then processed in real time and converted into clear overviews, providing growers with valuable insights into the cultivation process.

CEO Emile Derache, a mechanical engineer specialized in robotics, highlights the measurable impact: “Farms using Funghii achieve 10% higher yields – without expanding their growing rooms – and harvest 5% more efficiently. After a year of using our product, many clients see returns that exceed the subscription cost. This is made possible through improved crop monitoring that helps them make quicker, better-informed decisions.”

Smart Monitoring through Computer Vision

But how exactly does Funghii achieve such efficiency gains? Via a secure web application, growers can always follow up on their cells. Since they can access the app through any browser with a personal login, they can even oversee operations remotely and support on-site staff from a distance.

The dashboard presents a clear overview of all collected data – captured and tracked in a way that surpasses the human eye and memory. Derache explains: “While visual growth tracking is extremely difficult for people, our computer vision software excels at detecting subtle changes over time by comparing image series of mushroom beds, especially in the pinning phase. The detected patterns are turned into intuitive visuals for users. For instance, pins and mushrooms are highlighted in either green or red, indicating whether they are still growing. These insights support informed actions, like adjusting certain settings in the cells, ventilating the room, or starting the harvest.” And when warning signs appear – such as poor room conditions or under- or overpinning – the app sends out alerts to prompt fast intervention. “We even offer WhatsApp integration,” Derache adds, “so notifications can also be sent as instant messages.”

Objective Analyses of Farm Strategies

Growers are constantly adjusting different settings in their cells, but it can be hard to see the real effect of those changes on the crops. Funghii tackles this challenge by offering precise, quantifiable data that links specific actions to outcomes. “Our product gives mushroom growers objective insights into what worked well and what didn’t”, Derache notes. “They can, for example, see how temperature adjustments influenced growth, or which initial pin counts led to the highest yields.”

These insights prove valuable both in the long and short term. “Being able to review decisions made months ago clearly supports human memory. But don’t underestimate the value of short-term overviews, either: many growers find it incredibly helpful to scroll through their actions and results from just the past 24 hours!”

Accurate Yield Prediction

Another standout feature of Funghii is its ability to predict yields per flush. Derache explains: “By analyzing bed images taken during the mycelium and pinning stages, we predict how many kilograms per square meter will be harvested at the end of each flush. And we deliver these forecasts 24 hours in advance! Having such precise estimates a full day ahead is a game changer, especially considering mushrooms’ short shelf life. This feature helps farms plan sales more effectively and manage their import and export logistics in time.”

Looking ahead, Funghii aims to extend its forecasting window to five days before harvest, giving farms even more time to prepare. In addition, yield predictions will be expanded to include expected mushroom diameters – an even more complex metric to estimate than total weight. Note that as a subscription-based platform, all updates and new features will be made available to both new and existing users.


From Actionable Advice to Full Automation

Finally, Funghii is set to evolve from a monitoring tool into an advisory system. “Right now, the platform provides all the information, but growers have to interpret it and act on it themselves. In future versions, the tool will offer specific, data-driven recommendations, such as adjusting temperature and humidity levels when growth stalls. Initially, growers will still make the final call based on these suggestions. But we’re already looking further ahead: full automation, where the system independently executes preferred actions, is definitely on the horizon.”

Technology as the Way Forward

Is AI- and data-driven support the future of mushroom farming? “I believe so”, says Derache. “Just a year in, we already have a hundred cameras operating on nine farms across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom – and that number keeps growing. As in any sector: when technology becomes the industry standard, companies will need to adapt or risk falling behind.” But it’s not just about keeping up with the competition, he emphasizes. Above all, it’s about moving forward: “Automation in mushroom farming is no passing trend. Funghii demonstrably boosts yields and profitability. This innovation won’t only benefit individual farms; it has the potential to transform the entire industry!”

Get in Touch

Want to learn more about Funghii? Visit the website or contact the Heliovision team for more information, or to schedule an intake meeting.

- www.funghii.com 
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 11th International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products will take place in Accra, Ghana, from 13 to 17 October 2026, bringing together researchers, growers, industry professionals and other specialists from across the mushroom sector.

The organisers have extended the abstract submission deadline to 4 September, giving researchers additional time to contribute to the scientific programme. The conference itself covers nine research tracks spanning mushroom biology, production and product development.

What makes this edition particularly interesting is the strong practical component. Ahead of the main conference, participants can join hands-on training sessions covering topics such as spawn production, strain maintenance, quality control, alternative substrates and cultivation systems. This gives the event a broader relevance than a purely academic mycology meeting and creates a direct link between scientific knowledge and commercial mushroom production.

The conference will be accessible both in person and online, widening participation for professionals who are unable to travel to Ghana.

With the event taking place in Accra, ICMBMP11 also brings additional attention to Africa’s developing commercial mushroom sector. The combination of international research, practical technical training and regional industry development could make the conference an important meeting point for professionals working in both established and emerging mushroom markets.

Interested in attending? Find out more and register via the official website.

The International Mushroom Days and Edible Fungi Full Industry Chain Innovation Expo will take place in Xiamen, China, bringing together companies and professionals from across the country’s extensive edible fungi industry.

Covering around 17,000 m² of exhibition space, the event is designed to represent the full mushroom value chain. Exhibitors are expected to include suppliers of equipment, spawn, cultivation technology and other products and services used throughout mushroom production and processing.

China plays a dominant role in global mushroom production, yet many of the technologies, production systems and suppliers active in the Chinese market remain relatively unfamiliar to growers and industry professionals in Europe and North America. Events such as International Mushroom Days therefore provide an interesting window into developments taking place within the world’s largest mushroom-producing market.

Beyond its scale, the exhibition offers an opportunity to see how different parts of the Chinese mushroom sector are evolving, from cultivation and automation to equipment and supply-chain solutions.

For the international industry, that makes Xiamen particularly interesting. Technologies and production methods gaining ground in China today could increasingly influence mushroom cultivation elsewhere in the world as suppliers expand internationally and growers continue to search for more efficient production systems.

Interested in attending? Find out more and register via the official website.

Labour availability remains one of the biggest challenges facing mushroom growers worldwide. While much of the industry’s attention has traditionally focused on automating harvesting, GTL Europe is now taking another important step in the process with its newly developed Packing Robot.

The system is designed to automate the transition from harvested mushroom to finished, ready-to-sell product. It forms the final link in GTL’s broader Swift Harvest concept, but can also be used independently by growers already working with GTL’s blue conveyor belt system.

From mushroom to punnet

Traditionally, packing still involves several manual steps. Mushrooms need to be assessed, sorted, weighed, trimmed where necessary and placed into the correct punnet or crate. GTL’s Packing Robot is designed to take over much of this work automatically.

After harvesting, mushrooms arrive at the robot without needing to be precisely positioned. Two vision systems guide the process. A first vision box integrated into the robotic arm identifies which mushroom should be picked next. While the mushroom moves towards the packaging, it passes a second vision system that assesses its quality, size and estimated weight, and determines whether the stem needs trimming.

Using this information, the system decides which punnet or crate the mushroom belongs in. If trimming is necessary, this is carried out immediately before the mushroom is placed into its packaging.

Vision technology makes the difference

An interesting aspect of the system is that mushrooms do not first have to be neatly arranged before the robot can handle them. Instead, vision technology continuously analyses the incoming product and determines the next action.

This may sound like a relatively small detail, but it is important for practical automation. Mushrooms are naturally variable products: they differ in size, shape and orientation. Being able to recognise and handle products while they are randomly positioned can simplify the flow between harvesting and packing considerably.

At the same time, automated inspection and handling should contribute to a more consistent final product and reduce unnecessary handling and product damage.

Part of a bigger rethink of harvesting

The Packing Robot becomes particularly interesting when viewed within GTL’s Swift Harvest concept.

Rather than treating harvesting and packing as two separate operations, Swift Harvest connects harvesting, product handling, cooling and automated packing in one integrated process. Mushrooms are harvested from the growing bed, transferred while maintaining their position, and can then move through cooling before robots select, trim and pack them.

Separating the moment of harvesting from the moment of packing could also give growers more flexibility in organising labour and production. Packing robots can continue processing product independently of exactly when the mushrooms were harvested.

First robot already in operation

GTL reports that its first Packing Robot has been operating successfully at a customer site since July 1, 2026.

And development is already moving further. The current machine works with GTL’s blue conveyor belt system, but the company is working towards a version that can pick mushrooms directly from the growing film and place them straight into the appropriate packaging without the intermediate conveyor belts.

For growers, that direction is perhaps the most interesting part of the development. Automation is increasingly moving beyond replacing one individual manual task. The focus is shifting towards redesigning the complete flow from growing room to packed product.

With labour pressure unlikely to disappear, technologies that combine product recognition, quality assessment and packing in one automated process may become an increasingly important part of the modern mushroom farm.

Read more about GTL and automating harvesting here.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced preliminary anti-dumping duties on fresh Canadian mushrooms, marking another development in the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and Canada.

The proposed tariff rates are considerably lower than those requested by the Fresh Mushrooms Fair Trade Coalition, but they still introduce new uncertainty for growers and exporters operating across North America.

According to Mushrooms Canada, the decision is preliminary and the allegations of unfair pricing remain unfounded. The organization says it will continue working through the investigation process while advocating for fair trade between both countries.

With labour shortages, rising production costs and changing consumer demand already placing pressure on the industry, the outcome of the investigation could have wider implications for mushroom producers on both sides of the border.

Please read the full article.

Source: Yahoo finance

Technology is becoming smarter and more connected

In our previous edition of Mushroom Matter Industry Insights, we explored how hybrid harvesting, semi-automation and technologies that work with biology are helping growers build more resilient production systems.

The next step in this evolution is not necessarily more automation, but smarter integration.

Across the mushroom industry, data, energy management and robotics are increasingly working together to help growers make better decisions, improve efficiency and optimise production. Rather than operating as separate innovations, these technologies are becoming part of one connected production strategy.

Below, we explore three developments that are shaping the next phase of mushroom cultivation.

Data-driven mushroom farming: turning information into better decisions

Modern mushroom farms generate more data than ever before.

Climate computers, sensors, cameras and monitoring systems continuously collect information about temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, airflow and crop development. But collecting data is only the beginning.

The real value lies in translating that information into practical decisions.

Increasingly, growers are using data to optimise climate settings, predict crop development, improve harvest planning and identify trends that would otherwise remain unnoticed.

Artificial intelligence is also beginning to play a role, not by replacing experienced growers, but by supporting them. AI can recognise patterns across multiple growing cycles, helping growers respond more quickly and consistently to changing conditions.

The combination of digital insights and human expertise is becoming one of the strongest drivers of production efficiency.

Energy efficiency is becoming part of the growing strategy

Energy remains one of the largest operating costs in mushroom production.

Climate control, ventilation, cooling and heating are all essential for producing a consistent crop, but they also account for a significant share of production expenses.

Rather than treating energy efficiency as a sustainability project alone, many growers now view it as an integral part of crop management.

Optimising climate recipes, recovering heat, improving ventilation strategies and reducing unnecessary energy consumption all contribute to lower operating costs while maintaining crop quality.

The objective is no longer simply to use less energy, but to use energy more intelligently.

The next generation of harvesting robotics

Robotics continues to evolve rapidly, but expectations within the industry are becoming more realistic.

Instead of aiming for fully autonomous harvesting under every condition, today's developments focus on improving precision, flexibility and collaboration with human pickers.

Advances in computer vision, artificial intelligence and gripping technology are enabling harvesting robots to better recognise mushroom maturity, size and position. At the same time, robotics is expanding beyond harvesting into grading, packing and logistics.

These developments allow growers to automate repetitive tasks while maintaining the flexibility needed to deal with biological variability.

Rather than replacing people, the latest generation of robotics is designed to support the entire harvesting process.

Connecting the dots

Although data, energy management and robotics are often discussed separately, their greatest value lies in how they reinforce one another.

Data helps growers understand what is happening inside the growing room.

Energy management ensures the crop develops under the most efficient conditions.

Robotics helps translate those growing conditions into a more consistent and efficient harvesting process.

Together, these developments are creating mushroom farms that are not only more productive, but also more resilient and better prepared for future challenges.

The bigger picture

From our conversations with growers, suppliers and technology companies across the global mushroom industry, one trend is becoming increasingly clear.

Innovation is moving beyond individual technologies. The strongest solutions are those that combine biology, practical experience and digital tools into one integrated approach.

Rather than asking "Which technology should we invest in?", growers are increasingly asking "How do these technologies work together to improve our farm?"

At Mushroom Matter, we believe this shift towards connected thinking will define the next generation of mushroom production.

Looking ahead

In the next edition of Mushroom Matter Industry Insights, we'll once again take a step back from the daily headlines to explore the developments shaping the future of the global mushroom industry.

We'll continue to connect the dots between innovation, cultivation and market developments, bringing together the stories and trends that matter most to growers, suppliers and technology partners.

Published by Mushroom Matter: connecting the global mushroom community through insight, innovation and inspiration.