SBIR Phase I: BlockSI: Shroom-E Co's Specialty Cultivated Mushroom Fruiting Block Production System

The broader impact /commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to potentially improve the production of specialty cultivated mushrooms (SCM) with the proposed SCM fruiting block (FB) production system by increasing production speed while reducing labor, energy, and contamination risk; this system will also create opportunities to eliminate single-use plastics in SCM production. The global SCM market is ~$29.2 billion currently and is expected to grow to $41.2 billion in five years. According to the USDA, 2022-2023 sales on SCM produced domestically were $90.4M, but ~40% of the SCM consumed by the US were imported. The proposed system will be deployed in an SCM production network and rapidly scaled with a franchise or co-op business model. The system’s improved efficiency over conventional methods will be a key factor driving the success of the SCM production network, which will in turn support greater production of SCM in America, and thereby reduce US imports of SCM, which pose health risks to consumers, reduce food security, and increase pollution. Within the three years of production, the annual revenues derived from capitalization of the system are expected to approach $1 million. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to complete the development of the proposed system prototype and conduct two experiments to test its performance. The conventional production of SCM fruiting blocks (FB) requires substantial time, energy, labor, and space. This system will automate the steps of FB production – sterilization, inoculation, and packaging of substrate – and introduce innovative processes to further improve efficiency of FB production. To prove the technical feasibility of the proposed system, its sterilization efficacy will be evaluated against a robust mold, Aspergillus niger. To prove commercial feasibility of the system, its SCM production outcomes, at varying sterilization doses, will be compared to outcomes from a conventional process. These experiments are expected to identify parameters that result in a 10-4 reduction in microbial load within 30 minutes and demonstrate faster colonization with comparable or greater yields, respectively. Compared to conventional methods, it is estimated that the system will produce FB 2-20x faster, reduce energy consumption by 40-95%, eliminate the need for lab technicians along with the contamination risk they introduce, and consolidate production space from several large rooms into a single space about the area of an office cubicle. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.