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Maitake, Nameko and Shiitake may not be classed as typical Cornish produce in many people’s minds, but focusing on these non-native delicacies has proved a hugely successful move for Kristian Gourlay and Kelley Nangle.

Inspired by a copy of Paul Stamets’ Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, which happened to be on the bookshelf in their Airbnb property when enjoying a city break in Prague, Kristian’s new-found intrigue was only ever destined to grow when returning to Cornwall, where he has lived with Irish-born Kelley and their three children since June 2017.

“I’d never really thought about mushrooms, their life cycle or importance in food production,” says Kristian, originally from Bristol. “I was just a rubbish date for the weekend and read this book for pretty much the whole time we were on holiday.

“I’ve since bought my own copy and refer to it as the ‘Mushroom Bible’.”

(Image: Submitted: Cornish Mushroom Company)

Initially delivering samples to chefs and restaurants, which quickly became a hit and saw stock selling out each week, Kristian and Kelley decided to upscale production – leading them to where they are today at Bodanna Farm in Summercourt, near Newquay. Building their poly-tunnel base from scratch, with the help of Kelley’s brother Jamie Nangle, the Cornish Mushroom Company officially stepped onto the business ladder in March 2018.

“It’s going well and the chefs down here love it, they really do, because there’s nobody else growing the gourmet types that we do probably within 200 miles,” says Kristian, who travels from Fowey to the rented plot at Bodanna Farm.

Kelley, who was unable to attend on the day of my visit, plays an equally important role in the day-to-day running of the business, taking charge of the finances and paperwork.

Growing four types of Oyster (Pink, Yellow, Blue Grey and King), Shiitake, Maitake (commonly known as Hen of the Woods) and Nameko, production is typically peaking at a quarter of a tonne (250-325kg) each week.

It’s a truly fascinating process, with these eye-catching and almost alien-like varieties grown from a sub-straight, environmentally-friendly composition of 30% coffee grounds and 30% hardwood sawdust. Making up the rest of the mixture is straw and the all-important mycelium, consisting of the growing ‘stem’ cells of the fungus.

Currently buying in pre-made blocks and bales after being closed for the winter months, when back to peak production these are swapped for huge 1.2 metre sacks, with around 70-80kg of spent coffee grounds collected each day from local Costa and Starbucks stores.

(Image: Athwenna Irons)

“I guess you could call mycelium the ‘seed’ of mushrooms,” says Kristian. “It just munches its way through all the different nutrients in the blocks, then it incubates for around three to four weeks depending on the species.

“The pink and yellow oysters are actually the most aggressive species that we grow, incubating over the course of three weeks from start to finish.”

Once inoculated, the mycelium-laced blocks incubate for three to four weeks in a specially insulated room, with conditions set to mimic a very dry and hot summer. In here, temperatures hit around 26C.

They are then moved to the fruiting room, which is in sharp contrast an autumnal environment, with much cooler temperatures of 18-20C. Carbon dioxide is taken out of the room, leaving high levels of fresh oxygen to encourage mushroom growth. This autumnal period lasts for about a week.

Growth is so fast that harvesting has to be carried out twice a day. “We’ll come in the morning and do a harvest, then before we leave in the late afternoon we’ll have to do another harvest,” adds Kristian.

“All the conditions are set perfectly for them, they have maximum water coming in and there’s nothing hindering them, so they grow super quick.”

(Image: Athwenna Irons)

Once picked and ready for sale, Kristian and Kelley’s main source of trade is supplying 1kg trays to a wealth of local chefs and eateries, accounting for roughly 70% of the business. “We try to mix it up so we don’t have the same mushrooms in there all the time,” says Kristian.

Garden compostable punnets, complete with recyclable labels, have also gone down a treat in farm shops and deli’s, with around 250 each week heading to the likes of the Great Cornish Food Store on the outskirts of Truro, Trevaskis Farm near Hayle and Tre Pol Pen Farm Shop and Kitchen, near Launceston.

When it comes to the punnets, Kristian’s only bug-bear is having to wrap the mushrooms in cling film, following complaints from customers that they were drying out. This is something he is keen to resolve, with the hunt for a more sustainable alternative so far involving calls to an Israel-based developer of compostable plastic-like packaging.

But as Kristian explains, the biggest fight they face on a “daily basis” is against outbreaks of mould. While getting the correct sub-straight composition is relatively straightforward, ensuring the conditions are perfect once the mushrooms fruit and come above the ground is an ever-present challenge. “We can recreate all of the cultures for any mushroom in the world, whether they be deadly or tasty, but it’s getting them to fruit and produce a fruit body which is the difficult part,” says Kristian.

“Green mould (Trichoderma) will just munch through everything given the right circumstances, we even get it on the petri dishes. It’s just mould, but not the type of fungus we want to grow, and we fight that on a daily basis.

“It’s a real challenge because we don’t use any pesticides, fungicides or chemicals in our growing process at all. If we see mould in a room the bag has to be thrown out, just because it spreads like wildfire.”

(Image: Athwenna Irons)

Looking ahead to the future, Kristian and Kelley are brimming with fresh ideas for the Cornish Mushroom Company, which has recently secured the contract to supply a major client in London.

Ably assisted by newly-employed mushroom enthusiast, Fred Scutts, plans are already underway to grow more varieties and dive into the dried mushroom market – with supplements, crisps and vegan crackers all on the table as possible ventures.

Fred explains: “I discovered I had this amazing interest for different fungi and mushrooms. I started to grow them at home and reading about all their benefits for physical well-being, then I came here.

“Supplement capsules are in big demand. Certain mushrooms that we grow, like for example Lion’s Mane, have been scientifically proven to help with spinal injuries and nerve damage, so companies have been capsulizing the mushroom powder as a supplement.”

The Cornish Mushroom Company, together with the similarly-named Cornish Duck Company, run by Roger and Tanya Olver only a short drive away from Bodanna Farm, are also in the process of developing a duck and mushroom pate, to hopefully be on the shelves before Christmas.

While Fred looks set to lead the way in driving the Cornish Mushroom Company forward, Kristian has his own revolutionary project in the pipeline.

(Image: Athwenna Irons)

Spiralling from what he describes as the “necessary evil” for many the county’s artisan producers of having to rely on distribution companies to sell their goods, Kristian is keen to establish a ‘Cornish collective’, a non-profit cooperative coming together to put a van on the road to distribute a variety of produce to Cornish restaurants, chefs, farm shops and delis.

Most crucially it will be owned by the producers, cutting out the unavoidable extra costs incurred by using an external distributor.

He says: “My idea is to bring all the producers together somehow. We’ll still buy the products for what the distributors buy them at, still sell them for what the distributor sells them for, but the bit in the middle is kept and will then be returned back to the producer at the percentage it was input – so they’re literally just paying for labour, petrol, insurance and maintenance of a collective van to make these deliveries. It also means we could take all these Cornish brands up to London.

“We are still only at the idea stage at the minute, but taking forward steps in talking with producers first to find out how their businesses are struggling. Also the option of taking produce to London in the winter is very appealing, which can sometimes negate that feast and famine situation we all tend to feel each year in Cornwall. That in itself will make producers stronger due to an inflow of cash.”

Initial talks with fellow producers have been encouraging, Kristian adds, but he would love to hear from others who may be facing the same issues: “I’ve talked to a few producers about this who are very interested because it’s ‘power to the producers’.

“But it’s not just about us, there are hundreds of producers that deliver to distribution companies. Producers should be coming together to be stronger as a collective in the old-fashioned cooperatives, coming together to deliver together and to swap produce if necessary.”

For more information about the Cornish Mushroom Company, either follow their Facebook page or visit the website www.cornishmushroomcompany.co.uk