Very often, it is the issues of selling their products, including their certification, that become a stumbling block for beginning entrepreneurs. Which can be especially annoying for a person who is one step away from realizing his dream - creating a profitable environmentally friendly mushroom production. The Center for Environmental Programs is ready to provide support with the sale of finished products to everyone who wants to realize their dream!
Let's try to list all possible sales channels for mushrooms:
1. Retail- with its stores of various formats comes to mind first. A mushroom grower can offer his products for sale to another entrepreneur who has his own small store. It is also possible to rent a place at the market and sell mushrooms yourself. Large chain stores most likely will not allow a small manufacturer on their shelves - they are interested in supply volumes of several tons.
Of course, in order to be allowed to trade food products in our country, you need to complete the appropriate documentation:
A-you must register as an individual entrepreneur or as a legal entity;
B- have legally obtained technical specifications for your products (you will most likely have to buy them);
IN- issue a certificate of conformity for your products at the Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance;
G- provide quality certificates for each batch of products offered for sale.
2. Wholesale- it is quite possible that your offer will be of interest to a reseller at a wholesale base or the owner of a small network of vegetable stalls. In this case, having lost in price, you will save time and effort.
3. Canteens, cafes, restaurants- what was previously called catering, and now the newfangled word ferret. Naturally, the owners of catering establishments are interested in the freshness and quality of products and, of course, will be glad to see your supplies.
4. Sales through friends- you (and perhaps your employees) probably have friends who love mushrooms; they have friends with the same tastes. By organizing trade “by appointment” and making arrangements for delivery, you will find a large number of consumers of your products.
5. Recycling- the disadvantage of all of the above distribution channels is the seasonality of demand. As a rule, in Russia there is a huge demand for mushrooms in winter. Especially during holidays and fasting. In summer, demand decreases significantly. In order not to experience interruptions in the sale of mushrooms, it is best to be able to offer them to processing industries. After all, mushrooms can be frozen, dried, pickled, or pickled. They are also used in the preparation of various types of cheeses, pates, dumplings, dumplings and pizzas, after all.
6. And finally, the most convenient option that insures all your risks. You can donate fresh mushrooms to our company. At the same time, you do not need to register as a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, you do not need to buy technical specifications, you do not need to certify your mushrooms, you do not need to issue a quality certificate. There is no need to even buy anything from our company. We will simply accept all your mushrooms at a price of up to 120 rubles. for 1 kilogram without any problems.
In search of an idea for their own business, many people turn to growing oyster mushrooms at home. In this piece, we'll take a closer look at the costs, profitability, and feedback of this activity. Is it worth the effort or is serious investment and a large enterprise required?
Advantages and disadvantages
This business is in many ways an ideal option for beginners getting acquainted with entrepreneurship. It requires minimal start-up capital and allows you to start working with small volumes, increasing them over time. Moreover, at the very beginning it is possible to grow mushrooms exclusively for personal use, and as soon as the technology is debugged, enter the market.
The following advantages should also be noted:
- You can grow mushrooms both in rural and urban areas.
- High demand for the crop.
- Ample opportunities for business development and expansion.
- No need for hired workers, at least in the first stages.
- No need for a wide list of business contacts.
- Relatively stable income.
Among the disadvantages are problems with selling really large batches of mushrooms (although the problem will not start soon, it all depends on the growth rate). You will also need at least minimal knowledge of the subject (this can be accumulated in the process).
It should be noted that such an important factor as seasonality. In summer and autumn, sales often decline, but starting in mid-winter, when the population runs out of its own supplies, demand increases.
Reasons for choosing oyster mushroom
Leaving aside nutritional value, taste and healthiness, it is worth noting that compared to the more popular chanterelles, honey mushrooms, champignons and others, oyster mushrooms are quite easy to grow, and the growth rate is high. If under natural conditions a mushroom harvest can be obtained in 2-2.5 months, then under artificial conditions this period is halved.
Crops bear fruit in several waves, the weight of one bunch can reach 200 grams, and record holders grow up to several kilograms, or even more.
A separate advantage is that the mushroom can grow on almost any substrate: stumps, straw, sawdust, even sunflower husks. In some countries, oyster mushrooms are even grown on paper waste. Modern technologies make it possible to further expand this list.
Selecting a sales market
Among the most obvious options:
- Independent sale in markets. In this case, you will have to worry about finding a free retail space, making and correctly placing advertising, and attracting the attention of potential buyers. In this case, sales proceed at a retail pace. The advantage is the ability to set your own prices, keeping an eye on your competitors, if any.
- Sales through grocery stores and supermarkets. In every fairly large city there is a retail chain or a separate point that is interested in the wholesale purchase of mushrooms. Unfortunately, most often they offer very low prices. Over time, it will be possible to switch to more favorable terms of cooperation, and the accumulated base of regular customers will remain with you, even if you break off cooperation with the outlet.
- Sales to restaurants. Mushrooms are traditionally in great demand in restaurants. The reason is simple - such establishments cook only from the freshest products. Cooperation will make it possible to quickly and profitably sell large quantities of mushrooms. The rest can be sold using the first or second method.
Needless to say, no matter what option you ultimately decide to resort to, the mushrooms grown must be of the highest quality.
Enterprise registration
Before starting work, you should register your business. To do this, you need to select the OKVED code 01.12.31.
This type of business implies three options for a legal form: individual entrepreneur, LLC or peasant farm, that is, a peasant farm. All three have their pros and cons. A form such as personal subsidiary farming will not be suitable in this case.
IP
Makes it possible to grow mushrooms and sell the harvest.
To register, you will need to pay a state fee of 800 rubles, submit an application to switch to the simplified tax system or unified tax system, and also prepare an application in form No. P21001, which will need to be certified by a notary.
You should worry about photocopies of all significant pages of your passport in advance.
OOO
Gives the right to attract investment through loans for agriculture and through government programs.
To register, you need to pay a state fee of 4,000 rubles, submit application No. P11001, prepare the charter of the LLC and a decision on its opening, have copies of the passports of all founders certified by a notary, and write an application for the transition to the chosen form of taxation.
The authorized capital of the enterprise must be at least 10,000 rubles.
Documentation
Documenting your own farm plays an important role in this matter. The mushroom business in Russia does not provide for obtaining a special certificate.
However, in order to become a successful seller of your products, you will need the result of a laboratory test. You can get it from a food laboratory. Its employees often additionally ask to prepare a safety protocol. It will require an analysis for the presence of radioactive substances and heavy metals.
Documenting the cultivation of oyster mushrooms on an industrial scale (even in your own basement) is an expensive and slow task. Moreover, the resulting protocol will need to be updated every 3 months.
Selecting a room
The choice of premises for creating a mushroom plantation should be made as responsibly as possible. It is preferable to choose places that are fairly humid, but not too hot. If we are talking about the very beginning of a business, then a basement or cellar at home may be suitable. As the business develops, old cowsheds, vegetable stores and similar buildings can be purchased and refurbished. As a last resort, you can buy a special greenhouse.
Premises requirements:
- Residual moisture.
- High-quality ventilation, but without drafts (if no other option is suitable, you can make several holes in the lower part of the wall and extend the hood).
- The ability to adjust the temperature (especially important in winter).
- Mandatory disinfection before starting planting work.
A few words about the size of the room. The truck holds about 20 tons of compost for growing. In order to completely distribute it and put it into full use, an area of 200-odd square meters will be required. The internal space is divided into sections in which multi-level (depending on the ceiling height) shelving is installed.
Each farm must have at least two passages. The first will be used to transport the harvested crop, it can be made narrower, the second should be much wider - soil will be loaded along it.
Additional premises include a boiler room, a couple of refrigerators for storing collected mushrooms, an area for packaging and various technical premises: change houses, a toilet and others. As a result, the total area of the farm grows to almost 1-1.5 thousand square meters. Of course, at first you can get by with more modest premises.
If you plan to grow oyster mushrooms all year round and entirely on your own, you will have to provide several additional premises:
- An inoculation room, where mushroom blocks will be formed from the finished substrate in bags, into which the mycelium is then seeded.
- Incubation room for mycelium germination.
- Cultivation room for forcing the fruiting body (the largest room, blocks are strung on rods, laid out on multi-tiered racks or suspended).
The first thing you will need is a high-quality ventilation and air conditioning system, which will be used to maintain optimal temperature and humidity conditions.
Water heating boilers are used for additional heating in winter. Ideally, it is recommended to purchase several full-fledged climate control units that will help regulate atmospheric parameters for mushrooms at different stages of ripening.
Refrigeration chambers are used to store finished products. It is very important that they preserve mushrooms only for a period of three days. In addition, for proper air circulation, they must be filled no more than halfway.
The premises will require a large number of shelving. Also, depending on the specific variety, bags or boxes will be required for production.
Staff
The overwhelming majority of responsibilities rest with the owner. It is he, at least at the start, who deals with delivery and sales issues. Very often, at the beginning of work, when several relatives are involved in the business, one is responsible for some of the supplies, while the rest deal with direct issues of cultivation, fertilization, planting, etc.
As the farm grows and mushroom production expands, managing everything will become increasingly difficult. At some point, inviting new employees to your small business will become an urgent need. However, there are no special requirements for employees in this matter - they will only be required to be conscientious, have no bad habits and have a medical record.
Considering that not a single educational institution in the country has a department of mushroom science, it will be simply impossible to find a qualified specialist. Of course, there is always a chance that an experienced person will come across. In this case, it is highly recommended to set his salary depending on output.
It is difficult to say what total number of employees will be required for breeding. One assistant will be enough to grow oyster mushrooms at home. If we are talking about a hundredweight harvest every day, then you will need to attract at least a couple of employees.
At the same time, they will deal only with the mushrooms themselves, while additional forces will be required for marketing products, preparing raw materials for production and for the position of accountant. Of course, one person can combine several roles if desired.
Approximate calculation
An approximate analysis of the expenses and income of a large enterprise can be seen in the table.
| Start-up costs | Sum | |
| 1 | Rent or purchase of land or building | 1,000,000 rubles |
| 2 | Purchase of equipment | 500,000 rubles |
| 3 | Business registration, advertising costs | 100,000 rubles |
| Monthly expenses | ||
| 1 | Employee salaries | 150,000 rubles |
| 2 | Advertising | 5,000 rubles |
| 3 | Maintenance costs | 15,000 rubles |
| Income | ||
| 1 | Profit from processing at a wholesale price of 1 kg of mushrooms of 14 rubles | 1,400,000 rubles |
Two important points should be noted here:
- These calculations assume working with a large farm, which has about 100 tons of compost for cultivation; if the scale is reduced, the costs will be lower.
- The data is based on one processing cycle, but there can be up to four in a year.
Summarizing all of the above, it can be noted that the net profit for one two-month cultivation cycle will be up to 780 thousand rubles. As a result, according to experts, the full payback period for an oyster mushroom farm will be about two years.
Those interested can download another one.
Competition and risks
Separately, it is worth noting the issue of competition. Currently, its level on the market can be assessed as quite low, which, coupled with low requirements for starting a business, makes it especially profitable for beginners. Imported products have recently left the domestic market, but the price level has remained unchanged, and the demand for mushrooms is consistently high.
Competition should be feared mostly from larger producers engaged in industrial breeding. However, there are not many of them on the market today, so there is no need to fear serious opposition to expansion. The risks in this area are also not too great, given the undemanding nature of investments.
conclusions
The main advantage is high profitability. The advantage is that there is no need for significant investments at the initial stage. The income is quite good - it reaches 650 rubles from each processed square meter in 1.5 months.
Another undeniable advantage is ease of use. Oyster mushrooms require much less care than other mushrooms, including.
Experienced businessmen, however, do not deny the presence of a number of difficulties, but all of them relate to the initial stages of establishing the process and sales. Once these issues are settled, everything becomes much simpler and all that remains is to collect and sell the crops.
Video: technology for growing oyster mushrooms.
Mushrooms are taking over the basements of our houses. And not only do they not fight them, but they also feed, water and plant more and more. Because then they can be sold at a profit - to a store or even a restaurant. You can just eat it yourself: the basement mushrooms are extremely tasty. They are called oyster mushrooms. And if American corn never became the queen of our fields, then the overseas oyster mushroom has a great chance to become the queen of our cellars.
Mushrooms are like milk cows. Just as ruminants convert hay into milk, so mushrooms convert useless sawdust and straw into a useful and tasty product. But while milk can be bought at any store, mushrooms are still in short supply. Mushrooms grown on plantations are still new to our market. Meanwhile, in Europe they dominate the shelves. Some countries (for example, Holland) have laws that simply prohibit picking mushrooms in the forest.
Until the mid-seventies, the main mushroom crop was champignon. However, over the past two decades, this delicate mushroom has been steadily replacing the oyster mushroom. Oyster mushroom is an absolutely environmentally friendly product. When growing it, pesticides and chemical fertilizers cannot be used.
By the way, oyster mushrooms were also grown in the USSR - however, only three farms in the southern republics. Now there are about 300 private companies engaged in its cultivation in Russia. Last year they produced 1,056 tons of oyster mushrooms, an increase of 29% compared to 1998 (for comparison, the increase in champignon production is only 5%).
According to the most conservative forecasts of the Interregional Association of Mushroom Growers (this organization includes 45 participants in the “mushroom” business from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan), in the next few years, the cultivation of oyster mushrooms will increase annually by 20%, and real market demand is five times faster than supply. -six. Moscow alone needs 40 tons of mushrooms every day, but only 10 tons are actually supplied to stores. If in Russia there are only 122 grams of mushrooms per capita per year, then each German consumes almost 3 kg, a Hungarian - 2 kg, and, for example, a Belgian - 4 kg. Moreover, fresh mushrooms on store shelves are just the tip of the consumer iceberg. Mushrooms are required by restaurants and canning factories; they are supplied abroad.
The increase in demand for oyster mushrooms can also be explained by the fact that over the past year and a half, imported fresh mushrooms (mainly Dutch and Polish) have almost completely disappeared from the market. Alexander Khrenov, director of the Interregional Mushroom Growers Association: Demand far exceeds supply. According to our estimates, no more than 15% of the market potential is used. He is echoed by Roman Uvarov, manager of the purchasing department of the Perekrestok trading house: More and more mushrooms are being bought, now all the stores in our network sell about 1.5 tons per week. The capabilities of suppliers, I admit, are not enough.
The few mushroom growers are by no means poor. Thus, Sergei Panfilov, director and owner of the Panfilov private enterprise, who invested $30 thousand in this business two years ago, returned it a long time ago and is now actively expanding production: I used to work in trading companies, but I wanted a real business. Growing mushrooms turned out to be just such a thing.
Mushroom glade
So, there is a demand for mushrooms, and those involved in this business are not complaining about their fate. If so, then nothing prevents you from doing such a profitable and interesting business. Alexandra Pilipovich, consultant at the Zarechye state farm: To successfully grow oyster mushrooms, you need significantly less effort and components than to obtain a harvest of champignons, and these mushrooms now cost almost the same.
Professional mushroom growing has nothing to do with growing them in ready-made blocks (logs “charged” with mycelium) at home. For a mushroom farm, you need to find a suitable room. A mine, quarry or house basement will do. The main thing is that it maintains a constant temperature and air humidity (about 85%). To do this, you can install special aerosol sprayers. For example, a sprayer from Ventechcom, capable of “treating” 800 square meters. meters, costs about 15 thousand rubles.
A detailed description of “mushroom technology” is hardly necessary here - firstly, it will take up a lot of space, and secondly, all the subtleties still cannot be described. Let's just say that for cultivation you will need any cellulose-containing waste: the so-called bonfire (waste from flax plants), as well as straw, sawdust, etc. Their main advantage is their low cost (for example, in the south of Russia you can buy straw for 25 rubles per ton; in the Moscow region, a ton costs 500 rubles). Wood-processing enterprises give away shavings almost free of charge. By mixing these components in certain proportions, you will obtain a nutrient substrate on which oyster mushrooms grow.
In addition to the substrate, you will also need mycelium - mycelium. Oyster mushroom mycelium is sold in Russia by only 6-7 enterprises, of which the three largest are located in the Moscow region - these are the state farms "Zarechye", "Moskovsky" and "Novoselki". The substrate with oyster mushroom mycelium costs about 4.5 thousand rubles per ton. In the regions it can be purchased cheaper (for example, at the Ivanyushkovo farm in the Voronezh region it costs 3.8 thousand rubles). The mushroom harvest can range from 25% to 35% of the total mass of the substrate.
Oyster mushrooms grow in waves, and the first harvest is the largest. The mycelium finally fizzles out in 9-10 weeks. After this it must be changed. Of course, you don’t have to buy a ready-made substrate with mycelium, but purchase everything separately - this will save up to 30%, but it will require extra hassle and will also increase the risk of not receiving the expected harvest (preparing a high-quality substrate is quite difficult). For example, this is exactly what Sergei Panfilov does: I only do forcing - I take a ready-made substrate with mycelium from the Krasny Luch state farm and grow mushrooms. Every week I install new 900 blocks, each weighing 10 kg - this is about a quarter of my total capacity. Each such block costs 52 rubles and produces 2-3 kg of mushrooms per month. In total, on average, up to 9 tons of mushrooms are produced per month. I sell them wholesale for 35 rubles. To maintain such a plantation, at least 10 people are needed. Based on an average salary of $50 per month, the net profit could be $4 thousand per month.
Garden biotechnologies
Growing oyster mushrooms is only the first stage of the mushroom business. It is much more profitable to organize the production of raw materials - a substrate with mycelium - and sell it to beginning mushroom pickers. As experts from the Interregional Association of Mushroom Growers note, for this you need to organize the production of the substrate with mycelium yourself, but the main condition for success in this matter is to ensure almost laboratory sterility. To maintain it, it is better to invite a qualified mycologist to work: it is almost impossible to independently organize the technological process.
As a raw material, you must purchase a “master culture” (these are pure mushroom cells bred in the laboratory). For example, at the Zarechye state farm, one test tube of cells costs only a thousand rubles, but if used sparingly, it can last for 10-15 years. To subsequently obtain mycelium, it is enough to place a particle of this culture in a special medium (nutrient grain agar), where it will grow, and then transfer the cell colonies to the grain matrix - finely ground grain. There they form “primary mycelium”, which gradually grows into a mycelium ready for sale. According to some estimates, the net profit in such production can range from 60% to 100%.
Ready-made blocks can easily be sold using network marketing technologies. For example, the capital company "Bionika" even offers to buy mushrooms grown on their substrate (the company makes blocks for use at home). True, for this you need to listen to a lecture on the rules of growing mushrooms. Tuition is paid - 890 rubles. At first glance, the offer is very attractive. True, they say that mushrooms cannot be grown from every block. Nevertheless, in Moscow alone, according to some data, about 6 thousand people became clients of Bionics. True, in some regions force majeure circumstances stand in the way of mushroom growing. For example, the chief sanitary doctor of Volgodonsk considered that growing mushrooms in residential premises was unsafe and prohibited the sale of blocks with mushroom “seedlings” in the city.
That's all the profit.
DMITRY TIKHOMIROV
Oyster mushroom is a product of exceptional environmental purity, because it grows without any pesticides or fertilizers.
Growing oyster mushrooms as a business can easily be called the most profitable agricultural sector. The profitability of this business can reach 100% and even exceed this figure. So that a newcomer to business can evaluate this indicator, we can compare the profitability of an average grocery store (1%) or a successful dairy plant (about 7%). It’s not even worth talking about the mass of unprofitable enterprises.
The taste of oyster mushrooms is so high that they are often called a competitor to the porcini mushroom. Moreover, they are perhaps the most nutritious mushrooms. The fact is that the protein of most mushrooms is poorly absorbed by the human body. However, the digestibility of oyster mushroom protein reaches 90%, which is 2-3 times higher than that of other mushrooms. Oyster mushroom is widely used in cooking and currently the number of dishes made from this mushroom has exceeded one hundred.
In addition, according to scientists, oyster mushrooms help normalize blood pressure, fight cancer cells, are a natural aphrodisiac and remove radionuclides from the body. Of course, with such indicators and advantages, an enterprising person has the idea that growing oyster mushrooms as a business can become an excellent source of income. It is this question that will be addressed in this article.
In short, we can say that the risks associated with the business of growing oyster mushrooms are very low, which is explained by low operating costs, modest start-up investments and the ease of organizing a business. The investment pays off in about nine months, and in case of unfavorable conditions – in a year. In light of the fact that in the summer of 2014, mushrooms imported into Russia from abroad came under an embargo, a vacuum was created in the Russian market in the form of approximately 160 tons of mushrooms, which contributes to the opening of production.
The advantage of oyster mushroom is its stable demand among buyers, rapid germination, ease of care, and unpretentiousness to light levels, humidity and temperature fluctuations. At the same time, as will be seen below, the costs associated with cultivation are very moderate.
Ideally, production should be located in an ecologically clean suburban area, which, in addition to being environmentally friendly, will provide practically unlimited raw materials (husks of sunflower seeds, corn cobs, sawdust, straw, etc.). At the same time, it is desirable that at the same time production should not be located at too great a distance from the city, since this will increase transportation costs and may affect the quality of the product itself.
Growing oyster mushrooms as a business can be divided into four main stages:
- Acquisition of mycelium
- Substrate preparation
- Actually growing oyster mushrooms
- Harvest sales
At the initial stage, organizing production will cost about 200-300 thousand rubles, provided that the area of the growing room is 60 sq.m. The bulk of investments will go towards organizing the greenhouse and its equipment, purchasing fertilizers and mycelium. The first harvest can be expected one and a half to two months after planting the mycelium.
It is better to purchase seed material from specialized companies. The average cost of mycelium is about $1 per kilogram. Then you can move on to preparing the substrate and the growing process itself. The cost of raw materials for the substrate is low and, if you focus on straw, it is 2 thousand rubles per ton. The duration of one production cycle ranges from 40 to 50 days.
It should be borne in mind that the shelf life of mycelium is no more than three to four months, so its purchase should occur several times a year. If there are several suppliers of mycelium in the region, it makes sense to purchase it not from one supplier, but from several at once, so that the quality can be compared.
When the harvest is harvested, you need to try to sell it within no more than five days (it is during this time that mushrooms can be stored in the refrigerator). If the initial production volume corresponds to that assumed in the article (1 ton per month), it is possible to sell the entire harvest through the market.
The approximate cost of building a greenhouse is 100 thousand rubles. Its equipment costs approximately the same amount. It is worth considering that the demand for oyster mushrooms is not uniform throughout the year.
For a relatively small production, with an estimated yield of 1 ton of oyster mushrooms/month, the effort of several people or even one is enough, which makes growing oyster mushrooms a good choice for a family. It is most profitable to register such a business as a form of private entrepreneurship with a simplified taxation system.
How profitable is the business of growing oyster mushrooms?
Oyster mushrooms not only have an excellent taste, but are also an environmentally friendly product that does not require treatment with chemicals. And if champignons grow on manure, then oyster mushrooms grow on wood. Oyster mushrooms can be prepared according to a variety of recipes. We can say that this is a universal mushroom. At the same time, the greatest demand for it is observed in winter, when a certain mushroom shortage forms on the market.
All this, coupled with its extremely useful nature, attracts the attention of potential entrepreneurs considering growing oyster mushrooms as a business. Feedback from those already doing them is overwhelmingly positive. Negative reviews, as a rule, are a consequence of the fact that the entrepreneur himself made some mistakes in production or sales.
High profitability is noted by everyone who studies the mushroom market in Russia. Unfortunately, it was not without its drawbacks. The main one is the fragility of this mushroom, which creates difficulties when transporting mushrooms over long distances. Fresh, unrefrigerated oyster mushrooms belong to the group of delicate goods that require extremely fast delivery and special temperature conditions. Some mushroom lovers are not satisfied with the fact that the aroma of oyster mushrooms is not expressed. It is also worth noting that if the spores of this fungus enter the lungs, this can lead to allergies.
Growing oyster mushrooms can be considered an almost waste-free production. This is because the treated substrate is a dietary supplement that can be very useful as a garden fertilizer or pig supplement. Therefore, when organizing the production of oyster mushrooms, it makes sense to think about selling the spent substrate.
If mushrooms are transported in plastic boxes and over short distances, special packaging for oyster mushrooms is not required.
The price for oyster mushrooms is determined based on competitors’ prices and material costs of production. In most cases it is 1-2 dollars per kilogram. To attract new sellers and make sales easier, thereby creating the foundation for business expansion, it is worth thinking about advertising your product via the Internet.
When the business is established at a sales level of approximately 12 tons of oyster mushrooms per year, production can be expanded by increasing the volume of products, entering new markets and expanding the range (pickles, pickled mushrooms, dried, etc.). At this stage, it will be necessary to attract additional labor. Accordingly, production costs will also increase. However, since growing oyster mushrooms as a business is highly profitable, income will significantly exceed costs, which is greatly facilitated by the introduction of an embargo on imported products, which resulted in an increase in prices for domestic oyster mushrooms. It automatically follows from this that, if necessary, an entrepreneur can set prices in a wide range without the risk of going broke.
The most likely risks include the following:
- Inability to sell products
- Increased competition in the area
- Equipment breakdown
- Excessive financial and time costs caused by insufficient experience in this matter
- Insufficient yield
None of these risks exceeds the average level of probability and in each of the above cases the consequences will not be too severe. We can say that each of these problems can be solved without much effort and over time the risks will be reduced to almost zero.
To minimize risks from the very beginning, it is advisable to take care of:
- Using special freezers
- Expanding the client base
- Improving the technology of using bioadditives
- Choosing a good mycelium supplier
- Advanced training through reading specialized literature, sharing experiences, etc.
- Purchasing equipment with a good warranty period
- Expanding the range
- Keeping prices below average
By adhering to such a strategy, you can safely count on successful business and decent profits.
The companies involved in this business can be counted on one hand. Having visited and participated in the process of mushroom production, we tried to find an answer to what difficulties await those who decide to take this path. And most importantly, if this is an “untilled field” for business, then is it possible to take advantage of the situation and open your own business?
Mushroom kitchen
IP “Grigoriev” has been operating in the market in the Orenburg region for many years; now it is at the stage of registering its own trademark “Mushroom Kitchen”. The idea to start growing came to the candidate of agricultural sciences Valery Grigoriev in 1997. A teacher at an agricultural university, having studied available techniques, created his own technology for industrial production. The production he organized has turned into a well-functioning mechanism, where they not only grow, but also process them. The company has become a family business, which is continued by the children of the founder.
My father was inspired by this idea because there was no industrial oyster mushroom industry in the Orenburg region,” says Anzhelika Slotova, the daughter of the founder of the mushroom company.
At first glance, it seems that growing oyster mushrooms is very simple. Basement type room with lots of light, very humid. The shelves (called blocks in mushroom pickers' parlance) are filled with bags of blackish-whitish contents, from which mushrooms hang in clusters. But, as it turned out, I saw only the end result of the painstaking and daily work of the mushroom masters.
Oyster mushroom production is very complex and requires constant monitoring, so the enterprise operates around the clock. The microclimate must always be maintained, so all equipment works constantly. Any technological error entails large losses.
Growing oyster mushrooms is a common endeavor of the Grigoriev family.
Passed all stages from boilermaker to technologist. Our father gave us the foundation and experience. Production is very energy-intensive; from the moment of sowing the mycelium to harvesting the oyster mushrooms, at least thirty days pass. The substrate block must be monitored daily. Plus, mushrooms have a lot of competitive microorganisms, which lead to the fact that the mycelium stops developing. As a result, instead of mushrooms, you can get a completely different result or everything will simply be lost, explains Sergei Grigoriev.
When we grew our first hundred kilograms of oyster mushrooms, we didn’t know what to do with them, how to sell them, because people reacted something like this: “What is this?” We even had to give it away for free. Although, for example, in China and Korea, the production and consumption of oyster mushrooms comes first. Our people don't have enough information. There is also the influence of the stereotype: people prefer champignons, although the price is almost the same. They look like classic mushrooms, and that’s what’s attractive. Oyster mushrooms are much healthier than champignons; in Europe and large Russian cities they are one and a half times more expensive than champignons,” continues Angelika.
A holy place is never empty, and this is what happened with the empty mushroom market in our region.
Fifteen years ago, when we just started producing oyster mushrooms, the price per kilogram was twenty-five rubles. For comparison, a kilogram of meat cost seven rubles. Now the situation is different, beef costs about three hundred rubles per kilogram, and oyster mushrooms eighty-five rubles. The reason is the large number of champignons on the market, the bulk of which come from Poland. There, the cost of growing mushrooms is much lower. Plus, there are also low customs duties. All this prevents domestic producers from developing. As a result, it turns out that now the production of oyster mushrooms has become unprofitable, with the exception of several months of the year - December, February, March and April. The market in the city is now so filled with mushrooms that there is no point in developing this business. If more producers appear or we increase volumes, then we will have to sell mushrooms very cheaply and not earn anything. Moreover, in the region there is a demand for mushrooms only in large cities - Buzuluk, Orsk, Novotroitsk, Sorochinsk. In villages and regional centers there is practically no need for fresh mushrooms; people mainly collect forest mushrooms,” says Sergei.
- So, starting a mushroom business is futile?
Doesn't make sense at the moment.
- If they are in demand, then why not do them?
They can also be produced, but only for the needs of one’s own family, and for large volumes huge investments are required, serious equipment is needed, and implementation should go to the region, and not just to the city. The production of champignons in Russia can now be counted on one hand.
According to Sergei, the lack of good specialists who know the technology of growing mushrooms is also a problem for growing oyster mushrooms.
- So you have no competitors?
They are represented by small producers who, at home, without certification, grow the same thirty kilograms. Then they have problems with sales, and they take it to the market, where they sell it very cheaply. Plus, competition comes from forest mushrooms, especially in autumn.
- Is it possible to grow it for your own consumption at home?
Fungi produce spores that are allergenic and cause fever and cough. It is especially not recommended for people with lung disease to do this. It should be grown exclusively in a greenhouse, and under no circumstances in an apartment, since for mushrooms it is necessary to create high humidity. As a result, in addition to harm to your health, you will cause damage to the house, the walls of which will become covered with mold.
- From whom do you get help in business development?
For all the time that we have been working, no one has been interested in us, how we exist. Plus, I can add an interesting point to this same question: mushrooms belong to the group of vegetables, for which the VAT rate is ten percent, and for mushrooms eighteen percent. No one can explain to us what this is connected with.
Mushroom Growers Society
Recently, Mushroom Kitchen’s competitors have been the association of individual entrepreneurs “Mushroom Community”. Its founder is Yuri Ryabov. Yuri Petrovich has the opposite view.
The mushroom business is not even half developed. The advantages are profitability and, most importantly, the absence of much competition. Moreover, there was always a shortage of oyster mushrooms on the market. If they are still present in Orenburg, then in neighboring cities - Samara, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk - there are very few. Orders come from there in large volumes.
The society specializes not only in growing oyster mushrooms, but also trains those interested.
If a person wants to grow mushrooms, then he will do them. It would be better for him to come to us and we work together than to become competitors. In society we regulate the sale of oyster mushrooms.
Before you take on this business, you need to study the technology. If you rely only on information from the Internet or pick up “tops” somewhere else, then you will most likely go broke on the first harvest.
There were cases when a person spent money on production, but spared five thousand for training, and ended up losing five hundred thousand rubles. He comes two months later with a request to teach him,” says Alexander Andreichev, an entrepreneur.
An equally important step for growing oyster mushrooms is having a room, and it is advisable to have your own. It should have light, water and ideally gas, because the biggest costs go to heating the water. Hot water is needed to steam the husks. Using electricity for this is very expensive.
The most important rule is patience, people want to get everything right away, but when difficulties arise, they give up. Another mistake beginners make is that a person is engaged in amateur activities, deviating from technology. If you follow all the parameters, then the profitability is one hundred percent of the investment,” shares Yuri Petrovich. - The prospects for the mushroom business in the region are unlimited. Now they are asking to supply ten tons a week, but so far we are not even able to meet this need together.
Note site/ Oyster mushroom (lat. Pleurotus) is a genus of mushrooms of the Oyster mushroom family, or Pleurotaceae. It develops on a substrate of non-living plant residues, from which it is able to absorb cellulose and lignin. In nature it grows on the trunks of dried trees.