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 SharoodJacob AugerHannah Nichols

Appendix