On September 12 and 13, the Hessian National Mushroom Growers Group invited to this year's HLP Days at the conference venue in Zaltbommel, the Netherlands. A wide-ranging social program awaited the visitors, consisting of a traditional farm tour, technical presentations as well as discussions and dialogues on the opportunities and challenges in (fine) mushroom cultivation.
Click here for the photo report of the HLP Day. Participants of this year's HLP Day. Clockwise: the team of Kirnig from South Tyrol, Torsten Jonas from Pilzgarten, the representation of Hermann.Bio from Austria, and the management of Kernser Edelpilze with Kasper Moreaux (Mycelia).
State-of-the-art substrate production
This time the event was under the leadership of Evelin Krolopp, who took over the management from HLP founder Ulrich Groos at the beginning of the year. The second day of the event started with the annual plant tour, this time at CNC Exotic Mushrooms BV, an internationally operating manufacturer and supplier of substrate for the cultivation of fine mushrooms. The company has significantly expanded its capacity in the past year and produces high-quality substrates in three shifts, mainly for the cultivation of shiitake and erengii.
After the high-turnover Corona years, demand for noble mushroom substrates was lower in the summer of 2023, so the substrate had to be stored longer, says CNC's Joost Hesen. "This situation is relatively new for us, because otherwise we could barely keep up with production and the substrate blocks only had to be stored temporarily for a short time. On the other hand, we got a much better handle on the ventilation and temperature control compared to last year's summer, again thanks to our fans. Next year we plan to install a PV system, as well as a heat exchanger. Otherwise, we try to avoid temperature fluctuations in our production rooms by thoughtfully dividing the blocks in different ages."
HLP becomes ESSMI
This year's HLP Day was also marked by the name change and restructuring of the industry association. This is because during the inaugural meeting on June 20, 2023, the European Society of the Specialty Mushroom Industry (ESSMI) e.V. was founded, which sees itself as the successor organization to HLP. "The purpose of the association is to safeguard and promote the interests of European mushroom cultivation. The statutory purpose is realized in particular through a comprehensive exchange platform, especially by holding conferences, excursions, newsletters and much more, as well as cooperation in research with public and private sponsors. Above all, clear research questions are to be defined. Furthermore, the association represents the collective interests of the members towards other economic organizations and political, official, semi-official and private bodies. Furthermore, the ESSMI has set itself the goal of promoting European mushroom consumption," Krolopp explains on request.
Insight into substrate storage: CNC uses so-called vacuum technology to sterilize and cool substrate blocks. In just 3 hours, up to 2 tons of substrate can be treated and packed in bags.
Proteins and marketing concepts
The rest of the social program focused on challenges and opportunities in the field of fungal exotics. In her presentation, Dr. Karin Scholtmeijer from the University of Wageringen talked about noble mushrooms as an alternative market for the extraction of proteins. Mushrooms, she said, are not a solution in themselves, but a supplement to the existing range of protein sources (such as legumes and farmed meat). Compared to North America, where the market for innovative product concepts and alternative protein sources is already well advanced, Europe is still lagging well behind, she concluded.
In the breakout session that followed, participants discussed forward-looking marketing concepts, among other topics. CNC sales manager Joost Hesen spoke with noble mushroom grower Victor Paulissen about the demands on the substrate and the producer. Reliability and consistent yields instead of production fluctuations are a decisive factor. Varietal diversity also plays a decisive role and ultimately contributes to increased sales, in which customers prefer to purchase the complete range from a single source. Finally, flexibility in substrate supply is also an important issue.
Geert-Peter de Rijk, mushroom grower and owner of the Paddestoelenrijk company, agreed with his colleague and added: "A healthy cooperation brings the whole sector further forward. I would be in favor of developing marketing structures through which we can successfully supply bulk buyers with several growers instead of going it alone."
For more information:
Evelin Krolopp
ESSMI e.V.
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Str. 7
06114 Halle/Saale
evelin@pilzbau.de
www.pilzbau.de