Mycelium in Industry – Where to find out in the World?

Update….see course in September 2023!

In this post:

the above photo: Haeckels – For outer packaging of our glass containers in both retail and during transit, mushroom derived mycelium was adopted.  An incredibly versatile, all-natural & 100% bio-degradable material that is mouldable to any silhouette and not only houses seeds of wild flora in its rigid walls, but fertilises them when the outer packaging is discarded after use; a more eco-conscious unboxing experience.

“Mycelium in Industry”

There must be people all around planet Earth with ideas for which Mycelium might work. I find that my posts on Mycelium are the most popular on my blog.

Update on some of the “Mycelium in Industry” pioneers:
I believe both Ecovative and Mogu have put “mycelium in construction”: on “the back burner”.  
Bottom line, I found in Ecovative’s FAQs: Products not commercially available:
• Mushroom Insulation, • Mycoboard, • Tiny houses, • Building materials, • Panels
>>Ecovative, is happily expanding their mushroom packaging operation to a facility 4x bigger Paradise Packaging Co. (See under Suppliers) They have announced the Mycelium Foundry — an advanced research facility for mycelium. Their first project from the Foundry is to go big time into mycelium meat: https://myforestfoods.com/. They are also assisting other projects in mycelium-based cell culture scaffolding with their latest kit: Excell, for applications in the alternative meat industry, etc.

>>Mogu, is marketing their floor and acoustic tiles, but they have opened up a busines for  innovative natural materials: SQIM

“Mycelium in Industry”

Starting from the beginning?

Assisting people to network and spread information is my goal. I continue to search for tools to help. Maybe something among these additional suggestions will help you with your plans………………….

Are you just starting? Take a look at some of my posts on how to grow with mycelium. This is one of them.

It depends upon where you are with Your idea….

At the present time, ordering some Grow-It-Yourself Mycelium composite material, to try it with your Idea, is possible in North America and Europe. Or you can try the Mycotech internship in Indonesia for “hands-on” experience or work with them. See the list at the end of this post.

Have you tried it out and decided that, Yes, mycelium might be good for your idea?
Now it is time to get serious and consider taking in a basic “grow mushroom” workshop or course.

What organic waste to use to grow your particular mycelium material – your “substrate”.
What works?
What works the fastest?
What substrate will have the best properties for your target purpose?
What waste material is easy to get in your part of the world?
How much do you already know about growing mushrooms/mycelium?
These are the first questions to ask yourself.

Where are you in the world?

If it is hard for you to get the Grow-It-Yourself Mycelium Composite Material kit – consider a mushroom course or workshop in your region of planet Earth. You will be able to start a very useful dialog with most people that work with mushrooms. “Substrate” design or recipes is the beginning of any mushroom or mycelium project, no matter what the target result. It makes a lot of sense to get some controlled experience with mycelium/mushroom of any kind, before experimenting with you idea.

So lets see what I have here that might help you:

“Mycelium in Industry”

For Africa:

South African Gourmet Mushroom Academy®

Steering the Academy: Managing Director, Dr W. Adriaan Smit
Dr. Smit has trained entrepreneurs from various African countries including South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi and Nigeria, and around the world.

A major emphasis in the Academy’s education is Substrate Design; an important part of any work with mycelium.

More help with your R&D:
Mushroom Substrate Design Calculator

On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 1:40 PM Dr W. Adriaan Smit <[email protected]> wrote:
Good Day Lesley,
Interesting! Thanks for the information.

To get colonization in the shortest period of time (no matter for what purpose) you need to understand substrate design. Your viewers might thus be interested in our
Substrate Design Calculator 

The substrate is what the mycelium grows in. For e.g. mycelium-based building material or mycelium-based environmentally friendly packing material, the process will be stopped when fully colonized.
However, if not purposely stopped by drying at the end of this spawn run stage, the colonized substrate (@65-72% moisture content) will initiate the fruiting body (mushroom) stage. 
Cost-effective shiitake mycelium-based building blocks for maximum strength, for example, need a special formulation which can be accurately planned with the Substrate Design Calculator.
We also run courses on substrate design 

Keep up the good work!
Regards, Adriaan Smit
[email protected]
<<<<< >>>>>
Where does the Academy hold courses?
SOUTH AFRICA Boardroom Training in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London
GLOBAL Distance Education: e-Learning or Correspondence
INTERNATIONAL Boardroom Training: in Berlin, DE, Singapore, Hong Kong All in August 2020, and the island of Mauritius in October 2020

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Also For Africa, Kenya:

Mushroom Kenya is a one stop farm for mushroom solutions. We are one of the mushroom farms in Kenya that produces White button mushrooms, White & Grey oyster mushrooms and Reishi Ganoderma mushrooms grown organically under high hygienic conditions. We offer; Mushroom Products, Mushroom training and mentorship, Mushroom Consultancy,  we help farmers build mushroom houses, Mushroom house for rent in Kajiado, Mushroom guides & reference materials,  Mushroom Inputs and Machinery shop & more.
Delicious Mushroom Kenya was started in a school Library at Mount Kenya University in Nairobi, Kenya

On Fri, Mar 27, 2020, [email protected] wrote:

Dear Ms. Lesley,
We are currently doing a small research on using mycelium to grow textile, furniture and packaging material. However we are in our initial stages. At the moment, what we might be offering to interested persons is some information on how to use mycelium to make such items that later we would document as a course.
In case of any querries, dont hesitate to reach us.

Best Regards,
Roussoss Demisse,
Founder Mushroom Kenya,
[email protected]
www.mushroomkenya.co.ke

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For Australia:

In my last post on mycelium in construction, I mentioned the work of Swinburne School of Design with the Catalonia IAAC. 3D printed nylon forms were created and used as the scaffold for mycelium cultivation.  And here is the guy who helped them with their mycelium material. Russell Whittam, Aussie Mushroom Supplies Ltd

On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Russell Whitta <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello,
I’ve done lots of work with universities the last few years. I supply them with substrate for making molds and shapes etc. out of mycelium.
I’ve also shown some universities how to make their own material, as well.

I’ve got a new product coming out later this year – for making things – just add water, spawn and mold the material. Then let it grow. I will let you know when it is available.

Always happy if i can offer any help for any project. Happy to help where I can 🙂
Regards
Russell Whittam 
[email protected]
Aussie Mushroom Supplies Ltd

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Also For Australia:

MYCOmmunity is a not-for-profit organisation aimed at increasing community awareness about fungi and making scientific training, equipment and resources available to citizen mycologists.
We run regular mushroom cultivation workshops. These include 3 hour beginners workshops that focus on methods that don’t require expensive equipment or a science background. We also run more in-depth or specialist workshops, as well as workshops at community gardens.
Our mushroom cultivation courses teach skills that can be applied to growing mushrooms or using fungi for bioremediation; biological corrective actions to address and fix a deficiency or restore a landscape from civilian or industrial activity. We focus on environmental sustainability and teach techniques that don’t require expensive laboratory equipment or a scientific background.
We aim to make scientific skills, training and equipment more accessible to the general public so that they can contribute more effectively to mycology.

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From Belgium:

Are you passionate about Mycomaterials?

You might be interested to know that:
In our next live course on “Substrate and wood fungi production” (25 to 29 September), Dr. Mitchell Jones will be with us on Friday for half a day of presentations and discussions on Mycomaterials. Dr Mitchell Peter Jones, a heavyweight-researcher in this field, will come to Mycelia’s premises to share his knowledge with you.
So head over to the website of Mycelia Academy and register for our live group course from 25 to 29 September 2023.

Mycelia Academy will soon offer an exclusive new group training, entirely dedicated to mycomaterials.

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Via Portugal – Online Course from:

Critical Concrete:
Organic Materials in Architecture:
Inside Mycelium

With CRITI.CO we are creating a sustainability e-learning network. For the learners, CRITI.CO offers exciting, interactive and applicable online-courses addressing various aspects of sustainability. For individuals and organizations, CRITI.CO brings the possibility to share expertise and to generate an alternative income.

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For Serbia+:

Upcoming Course 22-29 March, 2020 !
With 30 years experience farming mushrooms in a variety of conditions, we help you avoid costly errors and build a profitable, sustainable and self-gratifying business. Slash startup costs by knowing what’s what: start tall on our shoulders.
The key to success is an intimate understanding of the fungi as a living being — one with its own character, needs and weaknesses. This is exactly the approach we take at the Ekofungi School in Belgrade, Serbia.

To date, the Ekofungi School has already trained more than 100 people from all around the world!

Get the hands-on, learn by doing experience you need to jump-start your mushroom project, with no waste from compost preparation, to growth, harvest and distribution.
Course Content:
>Our lectures include: fungal biology, substrate production, cultivation set-up, spent substrate recycling, organic certification
>Hands-on workshops: substrate preparation, inoculation & bagging,
>Mushroom business basics: together design a blue-print for your own sustainable mushroom farm
>Ekofungi has recently started collaboration with our colleagues in Colombia on myco construction material insulation… But here it is still in development. 
>In the development of proper substrate preparation for mycelium growing, whether to use the substrata for construction purposes or for fruit body harvesting…. the process and biology are the same. We understand that these other uses of mycelia should be considered and studied and in time included in our school curriculum. Take a look at our manual, for some interesting information about mushroom cultivation.

Sistem Eko Fungi
Organic mushroom and Organic vegetable production in Serbia is the basis of our experience, in which we have delivered our spent mushroom substrata to our local if struggling organic farmers. We decided to purchase all their extra produce in order for them to survive, but also to market our Organic mushrooms & veggies, dried and packaged for various cooking uses.

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For Thailand:

I am not expert in composite material farming but I believe having the basics is the very first step. At MushroomWorld we have training course for people who are interested into mushroom cultivation. For all training details see our website. 

1-day hands-on mushroom cultivation workshop – Need to get a head-start on mushroom cultivation? Our 1-day training option is perfect to cover all the loose ends between theory and practice and we’ve put together an easy to follow and practical guide to ensure the success of your first harvest.

We also have 3 day intensive training for aspiring mushroom farmer. Flexible training schedule may be available upon request at no extra charge. Call us/send us an email for your queries.

As to your question regarding lodging and meals for the longer mushroom training, you can find it in the 3 day course. We cover full board&room and 2 way airport transfer. 
Mushroom World Training and Farmstays are a great way to pay something back into local communities and get an authentic feel for local life.

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“Mycelium in Industry”

Recipes

Walnut shell | mycelium WS01 recipe
Calcium carbonate composites From the “recipe website” Materiom
Created By: Sebastian Rodriguez  [email protected] They are in Chile.

You will find their recipe for their composites on the upper link
This is the only mycelium recipe at Materiom, but you will find other useful recipes on their website including Agar.
Joining the website is free and the idea is to create a community of people interested in collecting such recipes for materials and who want to keep developing content, sharing or testing the recipes. We are working now in a 2.0 version of the website that would allow you to know more about biomaterials and their properties.

Nature’s Recipe Book: Materiom
For billions of years, terrestrial and marine habitats have thrived in producing vast quantities of materials, all without landfill or waste. It’s time we took notes.

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“Mycelium in Industry”

How to isolate mycelium to grow culture: India

Winne Poncelet offered this on a BioFab Forum Post:
Following a question from a forest walk during a training this weekend, I wanted to share a short video on how to isolate mycelium from a mushroom. The is the basic outline of the video:
1. You want a sterile culture of your mushroom
The mushroom you have is not sterile itself (eg. it was in the forest, in a shop, …) However, the inside of the mushroom is sterile. The inside of the mushroom consists of mycelium.
You desinfect the outside of the mushroom in sterile conditions
You cut open the mushrooms with a sterile tool in sterile conditions
You put the sterile piece of mycelium in your culture medium that you prepared before . In the video it’s a liquid growth medium, but you can also use a solid one like Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). (You can find Agar recipes in the Materiom section, just before this one.)
You let the culture grow at the right conditions. To know the right conditions you need to have a vague idea of the species. The conditions of the climate where you found it are a good indication.
Indospore, that made the video is in India: You can see the video on Indospores YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbTCYq8HPM&t=16s
4:26 minutes Making Tissue Culture Mushroom [email protected]

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Small Business concerns about how to join the Circular Economy and other eco-issues are the motive for my blog. Tell me what you are looking for. Maybe I can help you find it.

“Mycelium in Industry”

more posts and suppliers of myco-composite materials

Additional posts, about Mycelium in Industry:
….all of which starts here:
Mycelium in Industry – Ancient and New

Construction industry,
Packaging industry,
Textile industry,
Furniture industry
Mycelium R&D Projects
Mycelium in Fashion Marketing – One Approach
May 2019 Mycelium in Industry update: Construction, Packaging, Textile, Furniture, +
June 2019 Mycelium Composites? Hands-on – Do it yourself
October 2019 Mycotecture? more-Mycelium in Construction
March 2020 “Mycelium in Industry” Where else can you get information?
March 2020 Mycelium in Construction?…some tangible progress
October 2020 Mycelium Is IN Textile/Fashion – 2020
December 2020 MycoProteins – Mushrooms To Meat?
February 2021 Construction, Mycelium, Industry..Wait A Minute
September 2021 Mycelium Momentum; World Is Waking Up.
January 2022 Myco-Remediation – Decompose And Remedy
July 2023 Mycelium Packaging – How To Make It A Business In 2023

Suppliers of Mycelium Composite Material, around the world:

>>>>Australia:
>Mr. Russell Whittam, www.aussimushroomsupplies.com.au,
I’ve done lots of work with universities the last few years; supplying them with substrate and how to make their own materiel, etc. as well.
I’ve got a new product coming out about mid-2020 – for making things – just add water, spawn and mold the material. Then let it grow. Contact him at: [email protected]

>>>>Egypt: mycelium material This start-up team has patented their own myco-composite material using mushroom strains found in Egypt. They have started to sell bowls, pots and to offer Mycelium packaging. We offer different products in construction such as insulation panels and open to supplying packaging as protective packaging for those seeking eco-friendly alternatives. We are also open to other creative projects using mycelium material. Visit our website: https://mycellium.co/

>>>>Europe:
>Grown.bio – has a license agreement with Ecovative Design.
their new MycoComposite™ kits consist of only LIVING mushroom material and are supplied to the EU countries. Possible also for geographical Europe, but customs clearances must be taken care of by the person making the order.
Grown.bio is now supplying the Mycelium Composite ™ material to insulate buildings. They have insulated class rooms in an Amsterdam school building and in a house in a village near Rotterdam. Scroll down to Building & Architecture products here. They have supplied the MycoComposite™ to many of the projects taking place in Europe, recently, that have been mentioned in my posts. Grown.bio sells other things made from MycoComposite™.

>>>India:
Finally! >Roha.bio At Roha we develop Mycelium bio-composite based protective packaging that can replace Styrofoam using agricultural residue and mushroom mycelium, we do this by collaborating with farmers and self-help groups in the villages, boosting their income.
On other hand we collaborate with startups and brands in consumer electronics space , design and develop protective packaging for their needs. Roha.bio

>>>>Indonesia:
>MYCL, Mycotech Lab has an internship program. It makes a lot of sense to get some controlled experience with mycelium. MYCOTECH Lab produces and sells, mycelium board composite panels BIOBO, and supplied the labor and material for the MycoTree project.

>>>>Malaysia
>Fungitech Mushroom farm waste is always a big problem for mushroom growers all around the world. In our site, we fully utilise this farm waste to make 100% chemical-free and biodegradable mycelium biomaterial. Currently, we mainly supply this green biomaterial for packaging purpose. This patent pending innovative technology is able to solve mushroom farm waste problem and provide a greener life style to our mother Earth.

>>>>The Netherlands – for Large orders in the EU Mycelium Materials Europe (in short
MME) started in 2018. We grow sustainable mycelium materials based on mushroom technology. We produce two types of organic materials in our own mushroom farm: MyFoam® (pure mycelium foam) and HedelComposite Hedelcomposite is composed of sterilized residual sawdust and inoculated with mycelium. Ready to use. Grow your own biodegradable mycelium objects with Hedelcomposite in just one week!  Maximum of 10 bags (300L) per order. 

>>>>New Zealand
> Bio Fab NZ a new company that Ecovative has licensed in New Zealand. “Lesley, We currently work within Australasia so can only ship within New Zealand and Australia. We are looking at having a large scale plant open early to mid 2021 and aim to set up one in Australia soon after. We are planning on selling Grow-it-yourself kits, but not until our plant is up and running.” says James from [email protected]

>>>>UK
> The Magical Mushroom Company a new company/website in the UK. (Ecovative License)..The Magical Mushroom Company is the UK’s first-ever production plant manufacturing mycelium-based packaging. Founded by three friends wanting to make a difference.

>>>>USA:
>Grow-It-Yourself Kits for MycoComposite™ are now available direct from Ecovative’s Grow.bio. Here you will find all instructions, learning, and purchasing information. Grow.bio, however, only ships the MycoComposite™ material within North America.
>Ecovative LLC has transferred all their Mushroom Packaging production equipment to a facility 4x bigger at Paradise Packaging Co which is now handled under the general website: https://mushroompackaging.com. The new company and new website offer you more information about the mushroom packaging material and how it works.

>>>more places around planet Earth?
From Ecovative:
>If you are interested in building a business in MycoComposite technology, Ecovative is now handling partnership discussions from here: https://mushroompackaging.com/pages/licensing-form Licensing with Ecovative allows the partner to explore alternate substrates, techniques, and products.
>For other issues Contact Ecovative Here

ALWAYS 

How to join the Circular Economy and other eco-concerns of small business owners are the motive for my blog. Tell me what you are looking for.  Maybe I can help you find it.