South Australia has a great opportunity to grow in the field of mushroom cultivation, where the land of the General Motors Holden Company has been converted into a mushroom cultivation facility.
Adelaide has been chosen to become the home of mushroom cultivation in Australia with the creation of the country's largest mushroom farm and processing facility on the site of the former General Motors Holden, providing hundreds of jobs for Australians.
Nick Champion, Australia's Minister for Trade and Investment, said: "Few would have thought it possible to turn the old GM factory grounds in Holden into a place where mushrooms can be grown - but South Australians are not only innovating, we're leading the rest of the pack."
The new $110 million facility is expected to produce more than 20,000 tons of mushrooms and mushroom products each year as well as provide 350 full-time jobs once completed.
Managed by the Epicurean Food Group, the new venture is an integrated plant for the cultivation and processing of mushrooms and mushroom products where the cultivation and processing process takes place in one place - from growing fungi in the laboratory to turning mushrooms into burgers using a high-tech commercial kitchen.
The new project will provide a steady and regular production of premium mushrooms grown locally and will be sold through supermarkets and restaurants that rely heavily on imported mushrooms, as Australia imports about 85 percent from abroad.
“With the help of our supermarket partners, Australians will be able to buy more than 20 of our uncommon mushrooms as well as burgers, patties, caramels and sausages,” said Ken King, director of Epicurean Foods Group.
South Australia already produces 17 per cent of Australia's mushroom production - and this large-scale project will help drive that figure, repair the broken supply chain and capitalize on the mushroom's growing popularity across the country.
Growth chambers specifically designed to produce thousands of varieties of Oyster, Shiitake, Enoki, King Oyster and Lion's Mane will be built into columns up to 13 meters high, as the project consists of several buildings - spanning an area of 35,000 square meters - in a reinvigorated Lionsgate business park .
The Epicurean Food Group has moved to the new location after expanding from its first mushroom farm at Bull Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula, with support from the Australian government.
The project currently consists of 6 growth chambers nearing completion and small-scale production is taking place as a first phase, and all five phases are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Phase 5 includes the production of mycoprotein (used in alternative meats) and mycelium (used in leather goods) - neither of which is currently manufactured on a commercial scale in Australia and there is huge global interest in these products in the billion-dollar markets worldwide.
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