FOOD IS MEDICINE

Two young men working in Health and Wellness for the mining industry in WA have developed their concern for health and good food into a thriving small business: growing oyster mushrooms in a coffee ground/and carbon rich substrate.

Coming from the One Planet Fest-a-Con 2015, the City of Fremantle hosted a forum where clever business ideas were pitched to raise funds, with concepts gaining the most votes being matched dollar-for-dollar by the City.  Life Cykel raised money through crowd-funding to reach $30,000 and allow them to seriously begin business.

They were given space by the City to house several sea containers  in Wood St Fremantle, and by March 2016 were in full operation producing oyster mushrooms and mushroom starter packs.

The underlying premise is to produce fresh, local food using resources responsibly. So how does this happen? Julian and Ryan have a relationship with four coffee shops in Fremantle. The coffee grounds are collected daily by Life Cykel staff in specially provided bins.  The grounds are mixed with another finely mulched and sterilised organic material. Then the substrate is mixed with locally sourced mushroom spores, placed in bags and the growing begins. After a few days, the mycelia are visibly covering the inside of the bag.

The bags are then moved to a humidified atmosphere, pierced to start the fruiting process, and the glorious unpredictable oysters appear through the holes. The whole process takes about 3 weeks.

At May 2016, Life Cykel were producing about 300kgs of oyster mushrooms per week and supplying 13 different local restaurants, some which supply the original coffee grounds. The mushroom bags can grow a second, and possibly even a third, crop. The spent bag contents are currently given away to a local community garden as fertiliser. There are conversations with a chicken farmer to further process the mushroom ‘waste’ into fit-for-purpose fertiliser.

The second part of the business is to supply starter packs to customers to grow their own oyster mushrooms. Boxes are now shipped all over Australia. Business was given a substantial boost following a segment on ABC news

Business was given a substantial boost following a segment on ABC news ABC News May 10th 2016 with 300 boxes being sent out following the story.

Why mushrooms? Ryan and Julian were inspired by the TED talk by Paul Stamet’s 6 ways mushrooms can save the world.

Mushrooms are healthy, and coffee grounds are a free local waste product. Oyster mushrooms thrive on nitrogen-rich coffee grounds. Both men have now left their work in the mining industry and taken the decision to devote their time to growing mushrooms, having no need to keep anyone in the dark about their business venture.

One last reason why turning that great idea into a business for good:

1% of of the coffee bean actually ends up in an average cup of coffee while 99% of it ends up as landfill. As a result, an estimated 2 billion tons of coffee by-product is being produced globally every year. (source: Life Cykel)

So what for the rest of us?

We cannot all be growing mushrooms from coffee beans but recently Julian and Ryan have explored expanding their business to Melbourne, Victoria. Wow, a good idea can get roots anywhere! But kickstarter funds are being sought up to mid September 2016. Maybe you can help an idea along or you know someone who can.

Lifecykel Melbourne kick start

Or if you cannot, at least check out your own local coffee shop grinds. See if they are destined for the bin out the back and if they are, maybe try to set up a regular collection service to include them in the compost at home. But be reliable, businesses don’t need us to faff around and not turn up when promised, the grounds will not wait.

Any other good ideas for bulk used grounds?