MEETING BDC on the Baltic Sea
From 9 until 11 October, Rostock-Warnemünde hosted the 66th AGM of the BDC. The venue and the farm walks all had a particular historical significance. By John Peeters
10% rise in sales of chestnut mushrooms in the period 2006-2013. However, the market for exotics has
barely shown growth at all. Behr: “It’s striking that when supermarkets run a promotion with a temporarily lower price, sales rise by more than 50%. A fact worth considering.” Behr also men- tioned the increasing importance of lo- cally-grown produce in sales figures. “Consumers are prepared to pay more for locally-grown, a trend that is set to continue in coming years.”
Chairman Michael Schat- tenberg opened with the sad news of Eber- hard Peters´ death.
H
otel Neptun was the first lux- ury 5-star hotel in former East Germany, equipped with Stasi audio and video monitoring systems, and with dignitaries such as Willy Brandt and Castro in the guest- book. This luxury hotel on the coast still exudes the exclusivity of yesteryear. BDC chairman Michael Schattenberg opened the public session of the meet- ing by announcing the passing away of Eberhard Peters. More information is provided elsewhere in this journal. After a minute of silence in respect, Michael Legrand explained the progress booked by the BDC and the “Grüne Medien- haus” in the areas of marketing and ad- vertising. One of their new projects is a programme for school children that of- fers grow-your-own kits.
Hans-Christoph Behr from market re- search agency AMI sketched the status of the German market for fresh mush- rooms. This market is still growing, and particularly notable is the more than
14 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
Bacteria and techniques Dutch consultant and researcher Peter Oei spoke on the potential of adding specific bacteria to casing soil, for ex- ample to stimulate mushroom growth or discourage certain diseases. Separating the compost and casing soil at empty- ing, and then mixing the used casing with the new casing soil, with other bac- teria, also offers promising perspectives according to Oei. Mart Christiaens of Christiaens Group shared his vision on technical developments in mushroom growing and composting. In his view, the phase 1 time can be reduced by ap- plying new techniques, and the use of technology such as energy efficient wa- ter pumps will help contribute towards achieving energy-neutral growing in the future. “However, I foresee the major developments in the coming years in harvesting techniques. Rising costs for picking and up-scaling will prompt companies to consider investing in sin- gle-layer growing systems, robotisation and camera systems to monitor growth.”
The festivities that evening took place in the Sky Bar, where the key figures of the GDR once wined and dined.
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