The Verbruggen group has more than 40 years of mushroom farming experience. It has expanded to now have three cultivation sites in the Netherlands and, recently, has grown into a global exotic mushroom player. During a tour as part of the Hessische Pilztage, the company gave visitors a look behind the scenes of exotic mushroom cultivation and substrate production. John Verbruggen (general manager) and Job van de Crommert (manager, VEME Specials) also discussed the sector's current challenges and developments.
Verbruggen almost exclusively grows oyster mushrooms and, during peak times, can produce up to 12,000kg per week. "Most of our customers are in the Netherlands, but we have some in Belgium and Germany too. Our sales are characterized by offering both the oyster mushrooms and their stems. We, thus, want to actively combat food waste," explains John, who owns Verbruggen too.
Exotic mushrooms on their own substrate.
The group of companies is also committed to innovation in the broadest sense. "We work with Wageningen University and Inagro from Belgium. These collaborations have resulted in things like us partially using FloriLed UV lights in our cultivation process."
Packaged oyster mushrooms for local and overseas trade.
Year-round substrate production
VEME Specials, also a Dutch company, specializes in primarily organic substrates for exotic mushroom cultivation. VEME Specials has four tunnels where it produces 400-500 tons of substrate per week. It custom-produces those substrates on two fully automated production lines. "Our clients are very diverse," says Job.
"Some order a pallet a week, others, several truckloads. We want to offer them high-quality substrate year-round. That forms a good foundation for successful cultivation. Our core business is oyster mushroom substrate production. Besides substrates for gray oyster mushrooms, we offer packages for the mini, pink, and yellow ones, too."
These days, substrate production is largely automated.
Job van de Crommert presenting the new substrate blocks for shiitake cultivation.
"We're currently busy experimenting with producing a substrate for shiitake cultivation. The growing demand for European-grown shiitake prompted this range expansion. Our straw substrate innovation is energizing too. We'll soon be working hard on further cultivation trials and mechanization around this, for us, new crop. The first quality and consistency results look promising, and we see a very bright future for this product," concludes Job.
John Verbruggen (r) with co-workers Murat and Ruud during the Hessische Pilztage tour.
Theo Kempen en Peter Aerts standing in front of the AEM Funghi Box that is currently being used to test the substrate quality. This conditioned cultivation container has more than 160 blocks and closely mimics a 'fully-fledged' growth cell.
For more information:
John Verbruggen
Verbruggen Paddestoelen BV 
19 Heesakker
5469 AV, Erp, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 413 211 893
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.verbruggen-paddestoelen.nl
Job van de Crommert
VeMe Specials BV
75 Scheiweg
5421 XL, Gemert, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 653 703 630
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.vemespecials.nl
