Why We're Growing the Mycelium Supply Chain

July 20, 2023

Why We’re Growing the Mycelium Supply Chain

Innovation provides a potentially endless source of new and useful technologies that can help improve conditions on Spaceship Earth. At Ecovative, we are working to move the world towards greater sustainability and circularity, with mycelium materials made with biology to sustain the cycles of nature.

But to change the world, our materials first have to succeed in the world as it already is. By working with markets as they exist today, mycelium allows us to ‘hack capitalism’ to serve the planet instead of hurting it. That’s why we’ve designed our mycelium technology to fit neatly into processes and traditional supply chains, as the first step in transforming them.

After raising 60 million in Series D, we poured a huge portion of that investment into a strategic build-out of our supply chain. Over the last couple of years, we have connected every part of the process for growing mycelium — we produce our own raw agricultural feedstock and top quality spawn and substrate, to the farms where we research and develop mycelium into high performing hides or foams, packaging, or delicious bacon. With our technology and facilities deployed around the world, we can ensure the best quality of every input and output for contract growers, while also keeping costs lower, crucial for growing to the scales we need to in order to make a dent in the problems of waste and pollution.

We designed our technology to fit easily into existing manufacturing processes and infrastructure, reducing friction with the systems we are working to improve. That also means quicker scaling, reduced costs, and put products on shelves faster. For example, our AirMycelium™ Technology is directly compatible with traditional mushroom farms, instantly unlocking billions of pounds of existing production around the world (there are a lot of mushroom farms out there).

Anything we grow domestically starts at Ecovative Spawn and Substrate North America, located right next to our headquarters here in Green Island, New York. You can spot the facility from the highway, thanks to the pair of towering silos we built to store seed hulls, hemp hurd, wood chips, and other materials sourced from our regional suppliers. These low-value inputs are the basis of our high-performing mycelium materials and products. It’s where we pasteurize and combine the raw materials with our carefully selected mycelium strain, before sending the mixture to the specialized vertical farms where they become foams and hides, bacon, packaging, and other valuable products

The same facility also supplies our partners and licensees, ensuring the same high standard of material and removing the guesswork for anyone using our mycelium technology. But supply chains in industries like fashion, food, and packaging are international. In Venlo, Ecovative Spawn and Substrate Netherlands extends our vertically integrated supply chain to Europe. With this state-of-the-art 75,000 square foot facility, we can distribute top quality mycelium feedstock to our growing list of partners and customers around the globe. This will prove crucial as we begin to grow materials for a range of upcoming products made by our industry leading brand partners, and, now that Ecovative’s patents are beginning to open to anyone, as we supply more mycelium to a growing list of companies around the world.

As mycelium technology takes off categories ranging from food to fashion to packaging and beyond, we have been careful and strategic about designing and building the mycelium supply chain that will enable that growth. To scale it as a solution that makes a real difference in the real world is the true challenge, and it’s a challenge we embrace. Click here to learn more about our Spawn and Substrate facilities, a key part of Ecovative’s vertical integration.