Farming Fungi LLC Maine Technology Institute Seed Grants for Ag & Food Business
description
Transcript of Farming Fungi LLC Maine Technology Institute Seed Grants for Ag & Food Business
Farming Fungi LLC
Maine Technology Institute Seed Grants for Ag & Food Business
SMM January 2013
Farming Fungi llc
Maine’s newest commercial mushroom producer,
selling under the Mousam Valley brandMission : Sustainably grow and market
healthy, innovative organic foods. Maximize customer value while minimizing waste.
Vision: “Organically Grown, and Family Owned”
Located in Springvale, growing hardwood based specialty mushrooms sold thru retail stores and restaurants. First shipments start March 2013
$59mm US Specialty Mushroom Market, 12% + volume, 10% + price
Millennials “would much rather invest in healthy, sustainable, and, yes, perhaps pricier food... than buy the cheapest food-like substance possible ...They also use their ...choices to communicate their values and sensibilities – NEXT 2013
About 10% of the population consumes Fresh Mushrooms at least once in two weeks
Adults 55+ are the most likely to consume Fresh Mushrooms, and this population group is projected to grow in the next ten years
White/Non-Hispanics are the heaviest consumers of Fresh Mushrooms, however Asian consumers are almost twice as likely to consume - US Mushroom Council
Our Target Market
Primary Consumer types: Millennials, 55+, European and Asian cultural descent
Geography: Montreal to NYC and west to UpState NY=Max 1 day round trip from our facility to maintain freshness
Channels: High end grocery chains and natural food markets, restaurants and socially aware communities
Our Products
Hardwood based organic mushroomsPacked in 100% compostable bulk
trays and consumer store packagesMousam Valley Brand for Maine grown
foods
Indoor, Year-Round Growing Maintain our own genetic strainsProduce our own spawn in a separate labChip our own organic wood, pasteurize it
and inoculate it with our spawnGrow in rooms where we control light,
temperature, humidity, airflow, CO2 and access
“Fruit” in similarly controlled roomsEvery species has it own “recipe” or
“recipes”Pick, pack and ship in controlled
environments
Our New Technology and MTI Grant
Complete Lot Traceability systemGenetic strain + wood lot to consumer pak and reverseHuge attention from Grocery chains
Computerized Control system tracking all elements of production and status of all control parameters for every lot producedEfficiency and research tool + safety tool
$25k MTI Seed capital grant to create and prove system
Current Status
Nearing completion of 4000k sq ft, $250k Stage 1 project. Can expand to almost 10k sq ft in same building
Produce shipments start in March
Employees
Robert Sharood - PresidentHannah Nichols - Operations ManagerJacob Auger - Quality and lab ManagerEmily Sharood – MarketingJohn Sharood- CFO
ConsultantsAR Williams Creative – Rod WilliamsAlec Mckenzie Engineering and Design
Questions?
Robert SharoodJacob AugerHannah Nichols
Appendix