A brand new partnership has the potential to remodel the rising mushroom farming sector with the introduction of latest, high-value mycelium crops.
Ecovative, a pioneering firm in mycelium-based supplies, and Limbraco Worldwide BV, a number one producer of mushroom agricultural equipment, have introduced a strategic alliance aimed toward revolutionizing mushroom farming by way of the event of specialised tools.
Particularly, this collaboration will manufacture state-of-the-art filling and harvesting equipment for Ecovative’s flagship AirMycelium crops, which will be seamlessly built-in into current mushroom farms. The custom-designed tools ensures excessive yields and high quality materials when coupled with Ecovative’s patented industrial-scale vertical farming course of.
MyForest Meals
Mycelium—the fast-growing root construction of mushrooms—is a rising agricultural sector resulting from its environmentally pleasant potential to interchange animal merchandise resembling meat and leather-based. For its half, animal agriculture is likely one of the single largest contributors to world warming, consuming immense quantities of water and utilizing extra arable land than some other {industry} on the planet.
Since its launch in 2007, Ecovative has partnered with a variety of industry-leading corporations to make mycelium supplies and merchandise commercially aggressive and accessible to everybody.
With this new partnership with Limbraco, Ecovative is specializing in bringing modern farming expertise to farmers to have the ability to scale extra mycelium merchandise. “We’re enthusiastic about this partnership with Ecovative,” Frank Cornelissen of Limbraco Worldwide BV mentioned in a press release. “It represents a fusion of cutting-edge expertise and new markets, aimed toward empowering mushroom farmers with the instruments they want for fulfillment in an rising and aggressive {industry}.”
Scaling mushroom crops
Limbraco’s refined equipment has already undergone a profitable pilot at Whitecrest Mushrooms, a distinguished industrial farm in Ontario, Canada. The farm is ready to allocate half of its mushroom manufacturing capability to the brand new AirMycelium expertise this 12 months, showcasing the viability and potential scalability of this modern strategy. This announcement follows a 12 months of shut collaboration between Ecovative and Limbraco.
Going ahead, entry to mycelium manufacturing equipment shall be solely obtainable to Ecovative’s mushroom farm community.
“Limbraco’s refined and dependable tools is important for assembly the distinctive necessities of Ecovative’s mycelium crop, AirMycelium,” Gavin McIntyre, Ecovative CEO, mentioned in a press release.
“This strategic alliance is a big step in direction of scaling up the manufacturing of latest high-value mycelium crops for mushroom farmers, which maintain immense potential for meals and trend,” McIntyre added.
Sustainable vegan bacon
Ecovative was created in 2007 by entrepreneur Eben Bayer, who grew up on a small household farm in Vermont the place he helped increase and kill chickens and pigs. His ardour for fixing the world’s greatest issues turned him towards disrupting animal agriculture.
Some estimates are that half the meat bought by 2040 will come from non-animal sources. To fulfill that market, Ecovative pioneered analysis into rising complete cuts of meatless meat made with its AirMycelium platform. In 2020, in partnership with specialists within the meals {industry}, the corporate spun off a brand new, unbiased firm known as MyForest Meals (previously Atlast).
MyForest Meals
MyForest Meals grows and harvests nutritious mycelium prepared for preparation and consuming in simply over per week, which is important in comparison with the six months it takes to lift a pig and about three years for a single cow.
The corporate’s first retail product, MyBacon, rapidly bought out of each manufacturing run, and in a matter of a 12 months went from being bought in a single retailer to many. With cleaner ingredient labels and full taste and dietary profiles, minus the environmental or moral implications, MyForest Meals’ most important purpose is to have a constructive influence on the meals {industry}. Whereas MyForest Meals can produce many mycelium meats, Bayer determined that its flagship product can be vegan bacon as a result of he characterizes it as a leverage level of types.
“Bacon, curiously, seems to be what I name a ‘trim tab’ which is the rudder on a ship that turns the boat,” Bayer beforehand instructed VegNews. “The thought is that it’s the purpose of most leverage.”
“[Bacon] was a trim tab as a result of out of all of the whole-cut meats that we made in our first iteration, bacon blew it out of the water in our style take a look at towards current bacon, plant-based bacon, and simply usually, folks beloved it.”
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Nicole Axworthy is the Information Editor at VegNews and creator of the cookbook DIY Vegan.
