By Katarzyna Bieniecka POLAND


Wokas: self-reliant and sustainable


Driving east of Poland, passing Warsaw, we arrive in the Siedlce-Łosice region, where the concentration of mushroom production is said to exceed 1,000,000 square metres of cultivation area. The region accounts for nearly 80% of Poland’s production. This phenomenon is unparalleled on a similar scale worldwide, with the possible exception of China. In this region, we visited Poland’s leading casing soil supplier.


Three out of five mushrooms in


Poland are grown on casing soil produced by Wokas.


100% Polish One of the suppliers to the impressive mushroom industry in this region is Wokas, established in 1992 by two families – Wojcieszuk and Kasjaniuk, whose names (or to be exact, their first letters) gave the company its name. Today, the children of the founders (Artur and Dariusz Wojcieszuk and Mariusz Kasjaniuk) run the company, which has grown to become the largest producer of casing and potting soil as well as decorative items in Poland, processing 700,000 m³ of peat annually. The main scope of activity is peat excavation and processing for the production of potting soil and casing soil for mushroom growing. The very first production facility, located in Rudnik, close to one of the peat excavation areas, was built in 1998. Before that time the company hired a hall in another location. From 2000 onwards, Wokas opened a new production facility almost every year - completing the series of these activities with the peat processing site in Czaplinek, West Poland in 2015. In 2020 the company introduced the ‘Wokas Smart’ application and it opened its own R&D centre in 2022. Last year the company underwent significant modernisation and now operates with an extended capacity. Wokas is a 100% Polish, family-owned and run company, although it has since become a joint- stock company. It owns 13 peat mines across Poland and consists of eight production facili- ties, six of which produce casing soil and potting soil. Currently, the company employs 240 people. Each casing soil production facility is located near at least one of the peat bogs owned by the company. There are two in western Poland, one in the north, and one in the south. In the east,


22 MUSHROOM BUSINESS


three peat mines are located along the border with Poland’s eastern neighbors, stretching from north to south. The facility in Rudnik we visited, is medium-sized and produces 55,000 m³ of casing soil annually. Two larger ones produce 140,000 m³ each annually. When asked about their position relative to other casing soil producers, the company showed a pie chart displaying their market share of about 65%. The remaining 35% is divided among their five competitors. This 65% market share means that three out of five mushrooms in Poland are grown on Wokas casing soil. The entire production volume of the company amounts to 400,000 m³ of casing soil and 300,000 m³ of garden substrate annually.


Products and market The company offers four types of standard casing soils, which differ in structure and product characteristics depending on the requirements of the end user. The types offered in Poland are heavy casing soils aimed at white button mushrooms produced for the fresh market, and lighter types suitable for processed and brown mushrooms. Another type of casing soil the company produces is an export version suitable for transport. It is prepared with less water, which can be added to the product later as soon as it reaches its destination. The company mainly supplies the domestic market, but approximately 50,000 m³ of the production is exported. Part of the export production is transported by road to countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Sweden and Serbia. Other overseas destinations in the Middle East


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