The Italian cooperative Fungamico was founded in 2001 by 9 mushroom-cultivating companies with the objective of sharing their resources and capabilities in order to increase the quality and quantity of the produce and to become competitive both at a national level and abroad.
The companies that are part of Fungamico are located in Veneto and in Lumbardy and specialise in the production of the four most popular mushrooms in the domestic and Central-European markets: white and cream button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), poplar mushrooms (Agrocybe aegerita), oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) and branched oyster mushrooms (Cornucopiae).
"In order to maintain our position in the market, we are trying to improve our organisational and productive capacity and to lower fixed costs. As a Group, we have joined the forces of six of our members in order to invest on a new mushroom bed in the Verona area, which will operate from October."
Mushrooms are cultivated in environments where the natural temperature and humidity conditions are recreated, using selected raw materials that are constantly checked and, thanks to modern technology, transformed in a suitable substrate for mushrooms.
In total, the Cooperative grows 7,600 tons of mushrooms on 50,000 metres, divided into 5,850 tons of button mushrooms, 1,150 tons of oyster mushrooms, 350 tons of poplar mushrooms and 250 tons of branch oyster mushrooms.
Fungamico cultivates mushrooms in compliance with production specifications on integrated control, so documented checks on production procedures must be carried out during the entire cycle, so the produce can maintain high quality standards.
Harvesting is really important and it is carried out when the produce is just right, so it is always fresh and the flavour is unaltered.
There are many packets available, from different sizes of trays, to 30x50 packets, to 1 kg packets etc. Packaging is carried out using modern equipment in an environment suitable to maintain the freshness of the produce, whereas labels guarantee the traceability of every single packet.
70% of the production is supplied to retailing, 10% goes to wholesalers and the remaining 20% goes to the canning industry. Almost all of the mushrooms (95%) are sold at a national level, in fact, only 5% of the produce is sent to Croatia, Germany and Austria.
"We are also considering the opportunity of innovating and selling fresh-cut, processed, sliced and mixed produce as well as new packets with different weights to meet the needs of consumers," concludes Giovanni Boschi.
Packaging, shipping and the preparation of processed mushrooms (sliced, mixed whole or cut) are carried out in the Isola della Scala (Veneto) headquarters, where an additional documented control is performed to check that the mushrooms are suitable for selling.
Fungamico has the GlobalGAP certification. Stocking, sorting and processing rooms comply with IFS-BRC regulations.
Fungamico endorses Ortofrutta d'Italia, the communication campaign managed by Ferrara's Cso – Centro servizi ortofrutticoli to promote Italian seasonal productions
Contacts
Fungamico soc. coop.
Via Pisona, 9
37063 Isola della Scala (VR)
Tel.: (+39) 045 664 00 64
Fax: (+39) 045 663 10 17
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.fungamico.it
