On to the Production Phase!!
In 2023 we were ecstatic to have the opportunity to apply to the Big Food Redesign Challenge on the strength of two regenerative food products we have in development, and now we are over the moon to share we’re through to the Production Phase of the Challenge!!!! We can’t say much about our two products (eyes only, thank you very much!), but we can share plenty about the Ellen MacArthur Foundations’ amazing work in the circular economy, and specifically for us, about their efforts in redesigning the food system to allow nature to thrive.
The Challenge was created following The Foundation’s 2021 study, The Big Food Redesign. The study explored how food brands and retailers can rethink the way they design food to regenerate nature. It sets out the Circular Design for Food framework, and establishes five actions companies can take to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy for food.
By rethinking the ingredients we use and how they're produced, it is possible to provide choices that are better for customers, better for farmers, and better for the climate. The Big Food Redesign Challenge offers FMCGs, brands, SMEs, retailers and producers the opportunity to become pioneers of a food system in which nature and business thrive together.
Cooking with Leftovers.
We don’t just grow and sell mushrooms. We behave like them.
Or, rather, we aim to provide the same ecosystem services that mushrooms do by making productive use of organic materials that most others ignore. Our mycologist has been busy testing different agricultural byproducts for use in our special mushroom substrate blend, and when those materials aren’t exactly what we’re looking for, well, our product innovation team gets a chance to have more fun!
Pecan shells are an abundantly available byproduct of local pecan growers. Our intitial tests to use them as part of our mushroom growing substrate wasn't as successful as we were hoping; they weren’t as available to our mycelium as a nutrient source in our highly productive medium as we were thinking they could be. So we started cooking with the shells, and low and behold, they’re as effective as pecan wood in infusing flavor into smoking and grilling food! Trust us on this: we know!
So this product doesn’t only help grilling and smoking aficionados make their meals that much more savory, it reduces waste and prevents the need for pecan tree wood at the same time! And because rotting organic materials create methane—a GHG that’s 23 times more potent than CO2—this use has the extra advantage of eliminating methane emissions from the standard rotting process.
As our first circular economy product, these Pecan Smokin’ Shells are the result of creatively exploring what pecan shells can do if they don’t happen to be good in our mushroom substrate blend. Stay tuned for more!
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Better Fresh Farm’s Marketplace
Ground Breaking!
A big day for 4 Fungi’s Regenerative was shared by attendees at a dual groundbreaking on the Candler County Industrial Authority site in Metter, Georgia on November 15th.
Three of the 4 founding partners of 4 Fungi’s Regenerative were joined by visiting executives of DAS Corp, a leading automotive parts company out of South Korea. Chief Executive Officer Grant Anderson, Chief Operating Officer Denis Lepine, and Chief Logistics Officer Joey Burke were in attendance for the big event, along with SR Communications Officer Neil Minshall. Chief Design and Regenerative Officer Scott Boylston could not in attendance.
The festive occasion marked the groundbreaking for our 24-acre site, even as our Phase 1 efforts with our parent company Better Fresh Farms continues at the Georgia Grown Innovation Center. We are proud to be Georgia Grown! Stay tuned, there’s a whole lot going on!
Georgia Grown and Georgia Committed.
We didn’t plan to have the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) release the big news of our commitment to Metter on the very same day that Hurricane Idalia swept across our state. But that’s exactly what happened.
We know there are good people still without power, and good people who are suffering through tough losses from this storm, especially those in the southeastern areas of the state. While we were spared the worst of it, the storm has certainly took its toll. Members of our 4 Fungi’s team are tending to a few inconveniences of their own.
We’d like to think that our commitment to Metter goes beyond simply growing a business here, and extends to a deeper commitment to community, economic, and ecological resilience.
We’ve developed our circular economy concept of looping nutrients from the soil through close partnerships with local farmers by using their agricultural residuals for our growing substrate, and sending our own residuals back into the soil with this very resilience in mind. We’re pursuing a vision of abundance through stewardship, and utilizing various technologies to do so. The goal is a more resilient food system by making our regional ecologies and economies more interdependent and robust!
Here’s a little peek of how we’re endeavoring to do it:
“Congratulations to the people of Metter, 4 Fungi’s Regenerative, and all who worked to make today’s announcement happen. Innovative projects such as this remind us that the future of Georgia’s No. 1 industry remains strong and that exciting opportunities are coming to communities in every corner of the state.”
—Governor Brian P. Kemp
Read more of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s press release here.
Taking Root.
Thanks to Candler County Industrial Authority (CCIDA)
and the City of Metter our roots are growing!
4 Fungi’s Regenerative is sprouting from rich soil in Metter, Georgia! As the State’s first Georgia Grown Community, Metter is increasingly celebrated as a hub for agricultural innovation. And we’re really excited to become close neighbors with the Georgia Grown innovation Center, a dynamic partnership created by Georgia Grown , Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group and the City of Metter.
“We’ve worked closely with CCIA and the City of Metter over the last 12 months,” 4 Fungi’s Regenerative CEO Grant Anderson says, “and we see a bright future in this beautiful part of Georgia for 4 Fungi’s, and for all of the wonderful people who live and work here.”
Like a mycelial network busily working underground, our mushroom company is preparing to sprout. And the Georgia Department of Community Affair’s gracious grant is a major milestone. The regenerative concept of 4Fungi’s has been developed and refined over the last 6 years in conjunction with the groundbreaking research and development done with our parent company, Better Fresh Farms, the anchor company at GGIC.
We can’t express our gratitude enough to Hannah M. Mullins, Executive Director of CIAA, Heidi Jeffers, Metter’s Director of Economic Development, Matthew Kulinski, Director of Marketing at Georgia Department of Agriculture, and everyone else who has been so integral to welcoming us. We’ve felt like family coming home thanks to their Southern hospitality.
“Candler County Industrial Authority is the newest recipient of OneGeorgia (OGA) Equity Funding via a $500,000 grant. This grant will be used to construct road, water, and sanitary sewer extensions within
the Metter-Candler I-16 Industrial Park.”
—Press release from Georgia Department of Community Affairs, 2023