The export of mushrooms in retail packaging is going relatively well. Poland managed to maintain stable markets, but during certain periods, mainly in the spring time, when pandemic started, fewer shipments were made. The prices of mushrooms remained unchanged, according to the data of the Polish Association of the Cultivated Mushroom Industry.

75% of mushrooms produced in Poland goes abroad. In mushroom industry Poland is absolutely dependent on exports.

The situation has been very serious since spring. Particularly at the very beginning of the pandemic, there was great uncertainty. The more as in countries where large amounts were shipped, i.e. Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain, a lockdown was introduced. Schools, restaurants and hotels were closed. HoReCa suffered what meant lack of orders. The introduced restrictions, especially in Great Britain, made it very difficult to trade in mushrooms.

Production and trade

At the very beginning of the pandemic, manufacturers limited the production of substrate. After three weeks, there were significantly fewer mushrooms on the market. At the moment, the production of the substrate is relatively normal.

The pandemic has caused great instability in trade. Order for five cars suddenly turns into two cars. It is known that the mushrooms will sell out by Christmas, but then there is a 'dead period'.

Labour

Mushrooms are grown all year round. There is no seasonality in this industry. Production is very labor intensive, which means people are needed. This year, the great challenge was to find employees for mushroom picking. After all, Poland employs workers from the Eastern border in the entire horticultural sector. Currently, the situation is slowly normalizing.

Source: Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit

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Nematodes are tiny and barely visible once they have found their host, but very effective. You can take advantage of this by using them against harmful insects. Nematodes can be found almost everywhere in the world: in white beach sand, on potatoes in the field and in the mountains as well as in the deep sea. Most of them are tiny and only visible to the human eye under a microscope.

Because of their appearance, they are also called roundworms, roundworms or nemotode worm. These names are often negatively affected, because many species are known because they cause damage to plants or are pathogens for humans and animals.

Nematodes as beneficial insects
But most nematodes are harmless. Some species have even been shown to be beneficial in biological pest control. These species are produced by the company e-nema from Schwentinental near Kiel.
The nematodes are propagated in large bioreactors, mixed into a clay mineral and sent to customers. Nematodes are relatively host-specific and therefore harmless to other organisms. They mainly work against larvae of harmful insects in the soil: they actively penetrate the larvae and kill them after a short time. The nematodes multiply en masse in the carcass and then leave it to attack new larvae.

There are many advantages to using the nematodes in crop protection. There are no residues left in the food and handling is harmless for the user, for pets and plants. Resistance, a problem with chemical pesticides, cannot develop and the nematodes adapt to the pest infestation: if there are many pests, the nematodes also multiply rapidly, if there are no more pests, the nematodes also die.

Nematodes in action
Nematodes are effective against many pests that house and garden owners have to struggle with: white grubs, groundworms, root fly larvae, fungus gnats, weevils and garden beetles.
They are also used around the world in agriculture, horticulture, fruit and vegetable growing, tree nurseries and mushroom growing.

Cultivating mushrooms produces a lot of waste. For every kilogram of mushrooms produced, about three kilograms of soil-like material containing straw, manure and peat is left behind. In the EU, this results in more than 3 billion kilograms of waste per year.

Managing this waste is a challenge. Although it is rich in organic matter, and therefore useful as compost, used mushroom substrate – the soil-like material – contains a lot of water, which makes it heavy and unprofitable to transport. Some of it is used as compost in agricultural land close by but the vast majority that remains ends up being stored temporarily then landfilled.

‘Every year we have more and more waste,’ said Pablo Martinez, project manager at the Mushroom Technological Research Center of La Rioja in Spain. ‘So, we need larger and larger areas just to manage this waste.’

More mushroom waste could soon be given a second life though thanks to new innovations. Dr Bart van der Burg, Director of Innovation at BioDetection Systems in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and his team are interested in discarded mushroom parts, such as stems, and deformed mushrooms, which are part of the cultivation leftovers. They are aiming to extract components such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats and chitin – a fibrous substance – from them as part of the Funguschain project. Their goal is to incorporate these extracts into new products such as novel foods, cosmetics and bioplastics. ‘I think we will end up with at least three products coming out of this project,’ said Dr van der Burg.

Read the complete article here!
This article was originally published in Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine and written by Sandrine Ceurstemont.

Blue mushroom trays will be removed from the shelf and will be replaced by circular packaging
The famous blue mushroom trays are sold from supermarkets. Verstappen developed a new packaging line for mushrooms and mushrooms for Albert Heijn. The trays are completely transparent and consist of 100% recycled PET bottles. With this, Verstappen is taking another step in making business operations and the production of packaging materials more sustainable.

Circular process
The new packaging from Verstappen contributes to the circular economy to which the company attaches great value. Mieke Verstappen, director of Verstappen explains: “The great thing about this innovation is that the plastic used has already been in the shops as consumer packaging and is extremely suitable for making new food packaging. In this way we can permanently reuse the material. A perfect example of the circular economy. ”

Please read the full article (in Dutch) here.

Source: Duurzaam Ondernemen

On November 14th, Texans gained access to a new realm of the mushroom kingdom with the arrival of Smallhold’s specialty mushrooms on Central Market store shelves and the opening of their first Texas urban farm.
Breaking up a wall of brown button and portobello mushrooms with bursts of color and flavor, Smallhold’s locally grown, organic mushrooms introduce a world of previously unavailable flavors and textures to the produce aisle. For the first time, Texans will have the chance to pick up rich and nutty lion’s mane, deep cerulean oyster mushrooms and meaty royal trumpets – all grown down the road, rather than on the other side of the globe.

Please the article in full here

Source: Hortidaily | PR Team Smallhold.
Photo: Smallhold

You can find lion’s mane, royal trumpets, and blue oysters at NYC’s only mushroom farm.

“There are so many reasons why I love mushrooms,” says Andrew Carter, co-founder and CEO of Smallhold farms in Brooklyn. “At its base level, they grow off of waste streams. It’s not very common to find a product that’s as ecologically sustainable that can also feed so many people,” says Carter. “Mushrooms, I think, are going to feed the world.”

This urban macro farm specializes in creating artificial environments for growing rare and unique mushrooms for local restaurants and grocers. Each environment gets strategic temperature, humidity, and lighting adjustments throughout the day. The team cultivates unique varieties like lion’s mane, pink oysters, and royal trumpets in their macrofarm, while also using mini farms in buildings all across the city.

With their unique growing methods, sustainable packaging, and supply chain to many of New York City’s best restaurants and grocers, Smallhold’s goal is to open people’s minds to using mushrooms in more cooking, while creating sustainable farms in multiple cities nationwide. “We want this to be the center of the plate,” says Carter as he packs a box with different varieties. “We believe by giving people more mushrooms, people will eat more mushrooms, and they might replace that hamburger or steak with a bunch of different mushrooms.”

By Terri Ciccone | Eater.com

Chinova Bioworks is a company that aims to reduce food waste using natural, clean-label additives. The company has discovered that an extract derived from white button mushrooms can be used to preserve foods, increasing their quality and shelf life.

The company’s product, Chiber™, was initially launched in March and was soon being used by several plant-based yogurt and cheese brands. Chiber inhibits mould, bacteria, and yeast without affecting the product’s appearance or taste. It is produced in an eco-friendly way, unlike many artificial products with a similar function. Tests show it can extend shelf life by two to three weeks.

Click here for the complete article

Family business P.G. Kusters B.V. agricultural and horticultural supplies has been active as a supplier in the agricultural sector since 1968. This Dutch company is located in Dreumel, in the Land van Maas en Waal.

With a range of more than 5,000 products in a storage area of ​​3000 m², we offer business supplies for mushroom cultivation, fruit cultivation, livestock farming, arable farming and the green sector. We distinguish ourselves in the field of knowledge and service. Our experienced advisors are happy to help you to come to suitable advice together.
Your order will be carried out quickly and correctly in-house.

Especially for mushroom cultivation
All your business supplies are immediately available, thanks to our extensive stock. Think of work clothes, cleaning and disinfectants, filter materials and disposables.

As a TenCate dealer, we supply Nicolon cultivation mats, which we manufacture and repair in our own workshop, according to customer specifications. We are also a supplier of Nemycel nematodes from e-nema, for combating mushroom mosquitoes.

If you are looking for a specific product, we are happy to think along with you.
We are happy to support you by establishing a fixed delivery schedule for you.

Order your growing supplies directly here, or contact us if you want to know more about our services.