John de Gier: “As we grow organically, cook out is crucial.”
an independent advisor. “We have come to an arrangement with John that he will supervise us intensively for the coming two years, in fact he is more or less the farm manager..”, explains Plank, “
..as we had absolutely no experience at all with mushroom growing. We were naive enough to think we could learn the art in six months, but that was a bit optimistic! A new set-up needs time. Paddy Colwell, also from Ireland, who supplied and installed the sprayers, told me we would need at least a year to get to know the farm and start producing optimally. I am beginning to think he was right.”
Marketing with Facebook The company invests a lot of time in marketing, and leverages the benefits of social media, for exanple with its own Facebook page. They also try to convince consumers that mushrooms grown in Tyrol are superior and fresher than, for instance, the Polish mushrooms in the super- markets. Plank: “The market is more challeng- ing than we thought. Our organic methods and high production costs mean we cannot compete on price with our foreign competitors. So we have to differentiate in other ways. Why would an Austrian consumer buy our mushrooms if they can buy Polish mushrooms for half the price? We have to lower our cost price and continue to emphasise the added value of our produce through the packaging and freshness. We are still experimenting with the variety we want to grow. We started growing white mush- rooms only, but we now grow more brown than white ones. It seems that brown mushrooms are a better match with the organic image.”
Filling with a casing machine The farm in Thaur has six growing sheds and a central corridor. The growing area is 280 m2 per room, each of which is individually regulated by
The results in front of the Austrian Spar.
a Fancom 765 computer. De Gier: “We fill every Tuesday with 24 tonnes of organic compost in blocks supplied by Hooymans from the Netherlands. One kilo of supplement is added per tonne, and we aim for a filling weight of 86 kg/m2. We use a simple set of machinery supplied by Mushcomb, which I’m really happy with actually. We fill the compost using a casing machine, and then pass through the upper layer with an inoculation machine for a nice finish. On Wednesday we apply casing soil from Topterra. We do not use the CAC method. The intention for the future is to produce 70% brown and 30% white mushrooms. There’s no other alternative than to grow both varieties in the same room.” After casing, between 18 and 24 l/m2 of water is applied, depending on the compost and the condition of the casing soil, before ruffling is done on Mondays. Generally, cool down can started on Tuesdays, when the air temperature is reduced to 18 degrees Celsius in 24 hours. Once the compost reaches 25 degrees, de Gier takes the air temperature back to 20 degrees, before reducing it again by half a degree a day. The CO2 is also reduced by 200 ppm per day to bring it from 3000 to a value of 1600 ppm. “We harvest the first mushrooms about ten days after cool down, the air is then 17 degrees. After the flush, we apply 10 to 14 litres of water, but never spray directly on the mushrooms. We use nematodes when necessary, but I think that thorough cook-out is really important. We want to run a 6-week cycle with 3 flushes so hygiene is crucial.” Ten pickers work at Tiroler Biopilze , and four labourers fill and empty the rooms, and perform various general tasks including packing. “We only actually have one packaging format, in three different colours for the various customers. Packing and logistics are also my responsibility, in a new company you have to be a master of many disciplines”, says de Gier.
‘Why would an Austrian
consumer buy our mushrooms if they can buy
Polish for half the price?’
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 21
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