Farming Fungi LLC
Maine Technology Institute Seed Grants
for Ag & Food Business
SMM January 2013
Farming Fungi llc
Maine’s newest commercial mushroom producer,
selling under the Mousam Valley brand
Mission : Sustainably grow and market healthy, innovative
organic foods. Maximize customer value while
minimizing waste.
Vision: “Organically Grown, and Family Owned”
Located in Springvale, growing hardwood based specialty
mushrooms sold thru retail stores and restaurants. First
shipments start March 2013
$59mm US Specialty Mushroom
Market, 12% + volume, 10% + price
Millennials “would much rather invest in healthy, sustainable,
and, yes, perhaps pricier food... than buy the cheapest
food-like substance possible ...They also use their ...choices
to communicate their values and sensibilities – NEXT 2013
About 10% of the population consumes Fresh Mushrooms at
least once in two weeks
Adults 55+ are the most likely to consume Fresh Mushrooms,
and this population group is projected to grow in the next
ten years
White/Non-Hispanics are the heaviest consumers of Fresh
Mushrooms, however Asian consumers are almost twice as
likely to consume - US Mushroom Council
Our Target Market
Primary Consumer types: Millennials, 55+, European
and Asian cultural descent
Geography: Montreal to NYC and west to UpState NY
=Max 1 day round trip from our facility to maintain
freshness
Channels: High end grocery chains and natural food
markets, restaurants and socially aware communities
Our Products
Hardwood based organic mushrooms
Packed in 100% compostable bulk trays and
consumer store packages
Mousam Valley Brand for Maine grown foods
Indoor, Year-Round Growing
Maintain our own genetic strains
Produce our own spawn in a separate lab
Chip our own organic wood, pasteurize it and
inoculate it with our spawn
Grow in rooms where we control light,
temperature, humidity, airflow, CO2 and access
“Fruit” in similarly controlled rooms
Every species has it own “recipe” or “recipes”
Pick, pack and ship in controlled environments
Our New Technology and
MTI Grant
Complete Lot Traceability system
Genetic strain + wood lot to consumer pak and reverse
Huge attention from Grocery chains
Computerized Control system tracking all elements of
production and status of all control parameters for
every lot produced
Efficiency and research tool + safety tool
$25k MTI Seed capital grant to create and prove system
Current Status
Nearing completion of 4000k sq ft, $250k Stage 1
project. Can expand to almost 10k sq ft in same
building
Produce shipments start in March
Employees
Robert Sharood - President
Hannah Nichols - Operations Manager
Jacob Auger - Quality and lab Manager
Emily Sharood – Marketing
John Sharood- CFO
Consultants
AR Williams Creative – Rod Williams
Alec Mckenzie Engineering and Design
Questions?
Robert Sharood
Jacob Auger
Hannah Nichols
Appendix