This interview details Funga Farm, an indoor farming company based in Denmark. The interview is with Thomas Kyle Cometta, Owner of Funga Farm.
Funga Farm started from my desire to eat less meat and more mushrooms. As an avid forager, I fell in love with fungi and all the tastes and textures one can experience popping up on the forest floor during fall.
In the off-season, I found it difficult to find quality mushrooms in Copenhagen and so began experimenting by growing them in my backyard. The mushrooms I grew were way better than anything I could find in town and this was my aha moment to take my passion and turn it into a profession. When I started the business I had a small laboratory in my home where I worked with mushroom cultures and expanding mycelium but we really took off when I found space in a local warehouse to begin producing to scale for local restaurants. This was in the start of 2020 and despite COVID-19 we experienced growing demand not just for mushrooms but also for the quality and consistency our model provides.
The biggest challenges that we face in the future are related to scaling up production and meeting demand in a competitive global market that has driven the price of food down in all sectors and does not favor small producers. Luckily for us, mushrooms are experiencing a moment in the spotlight and the rare species and top quality we produce has its niche though we are increasingly having to confront the very low prices of imported mushrooms especially as we expand into new markets.
We at Funga Farm are unique in our approach and dedication to sustainability and circularity. From the start, we have been a fully integrated farm, which means we produce every stage of the fungi's lifecycle in-house from "spore to store". We are working with local mushroom varieties by cloning rare species from the nearby forests and developing these strains in-house which allows us to act as a seed bank for rare and at-risk species while offering unique products to our clients. We also work closely with our neighbor brewery to use their spent brewers grain as a supplement to our substrate production. Beyond this, we strive to continue pursuing every way we can think to increase the sustainability of our project and reduce our carbon footprint.
Last year we expanded from a small basement in an old warehouse totaling under 100m2 to a brand new state-of-the-art warehouse totaling 500m2. We scaled up our production 5 fold and are already planning for the next expansion. We are a crew of 4 currently growing around 750kg of mushrooms per week.
Our goals for the coming year are to diversify the products we offer as well as the clientele we serve while planning to increase production and expand into the increasing demand.
People can check out our website and follow us on social media to learn more about what we do now and in the future. For residents of Copenhagen, please visit the many wonderful restaurants that feature our lovely mushrooms and keep following for coming private sales.
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