35


Pallets with compost blocks are loaded into the two vacuum chambers (made in China


Vert


Teun Kampen (l) and Dirk Warmerdam in front of the company.


farms are being constructed. He is realistic about the long term prospects: “Carting all that compost about will stop at some point. It’s too expensive for a country that produces its own compost (roughly twice as expensive as in the Netherlands), but for countries that lack good raw materials, but do have many small-scale growers, it’s still an interesting proposition. The Netherlands enjoys a unique position. There is a supply of horse manure and the entire industry is concentrated, enabling very good compost to be produced at a low cost. We are still inves- tigating the possibility of producing compost based on bagasse in Malaysia. It contains a lot of sugar and water, but the process can be successful, contrary to rice straw. I have never seen any successful mushroom growing on rice straw substrates.”


Blocking press (there is also a press for big bales).


Ambition The Champ Fungi Group has mushroom production sites in many Asian countries. As well as mushrooms, Kampen has gradually started to offer a range of other produce, such as lettuce and tomatoes. And because he found the middlemen too expensive, sales and distribu- tion companies have also been set up that also


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