CONTENTS 38 OPTIMISM AT FL ‘23
Roel Dreve Publisher
Global Roel Media
A new Spring 8 MVX IS BACK 8
20 28 34 38
20 JACOBS EXPANDS
MVX: the mysterious killer returns Expanding the Jacobs family farm Robot picking with TechBrew Ecovative & Lambert join hands Optimism at Fruit Logistica 2023
AND: 6, 18 Cultivation tips AdVisie 24 Focus 32 Cultivation tip FungiClima 44 Cultivation tip John Peeters 46 Service
Frontpage photo: Flowers and mushrooms in the GL Group stand at Fruit Logistica 2023 in Messe Berlin (see page 38).
Small photo: John Jacobs (middle) with his sons Stan and Bart in a new growing room. The Agaricus family farm in Kessel, The Netherlands, was expanded recently (see page 20).
At the time of writing, the festival of Carnival is being celebrated in Europe. In the Netherlands, it’s mainly celebrated in the traditionally Catholic provinces in the south - in the regions with the highest concentration of mushroom growers. Like many originally pagan festivals, it was adopted into the Catholic church and its end signals the start of Lent. But its essence is role reversal and suspending social norms for a few days. It cele- brates equality and the return of light after a dark winter. And after coronavirus effectively stopped Carnival, the party is back on and bigger than ever! So this time around, penitence went before the party. There was a similar sense of exuberance at Fruit Logistica, the carnival for fresh produce companies. Like many other events, this was the first post-pandemic edition. The trade event felt much like the old days. But not quite, as the sector (see page 38) is still facing massive challenges caused by the damaging effects of the nitwitted Brexit, the disastrous pandemic, and the utterly lame-brained and catastrophic conflict in Ukraine. But Europe, with its innovative business community and democratic citizens, is resilient, gas prices are falling again and so is inflation. The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on... Spring is also in the air for the Dutch Mushroom Days, which was cancel- led very unfortunately last year, partly due to the same reasons mentioned above. Preparations for the event - which also celebrates the mushroom industry - are proceeding smoothy, and the ‘dance floor’ is almost full! There promises to be plenty of innovation and news again, in the shape of real game changers like robotics and new applications of mycelium (pages 28 and 34). And speaking of the latter, if Eben Bayer from Ecovative is proven right, a new bright dawn is poised to break for our growers: in their new role as a mycelium producer, worries about harvesting mushrooms for a decent price, with or without a picking robot, are over!
Finally, a big ‘Dankjewel’ to almost all Dutch subscribers, who are happy to transfer to the English edition with us, and of course to our loyal advertisers, who once again support us big time in keeping the Mushroom Business carnival parade float on the road again! I raise my hat and a glass of ‘Schrobbelèr’ to your health!
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 3
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