Packaging for growing your own mushrooms

17.06.2021

Grow your own mushrooms at home, keep them moist and finally harvest them – and all in the corrugated board shipping box? That's what our customer Kernser Edelpilze has turned into a business model – and it's growing and thriving...

Our Swiss customer Kernser Edelpilze has been growing mushrooms for around 25 years. Founder Sepp Häcki developed a particular taste for Asian mushroom varieties during a seminar on sustainable agriculture. Today, the innovative farmer produces a range of different types of fresh mushrooms – around 15 tonnes per week – together with his son Patrick. The mushrooms are sold mainly to the catering industry and large retailers. In addition, father and son have developed their own substrate for growing mushrooms, and even their own substrate machine, which has attracted a great deal of attention from experts around the world.

In 2020, Kernser Edelpilze launched a very special product for end consumers with its "mushroom factory": the set consists of a mushroom substrate block that is enriched with a grain mixture and water. Integrated into a cardboard box, it is then sent to the end customer in a parcel. This allows customers to grow various mushrooms themselves at home. Customers have to spray the substrate twice a day - and they can harvest after just 5 - 12 days.

Packed mushroom substrate block on a corrugated cardboard base

Packaging for mushrooms to grow yourself

Recyclable, high-quality and robust

The customer's express wish was for the shipping packaging to transform into the culture tray in which the mushrooms grow after being unpacked at the customer's home. The packaging therefore had to be designed in such a way that it would reliably protect its contents when sent by post and also "withstand" the daily spraying at the customer's home: Wherever the "mushroom factory" is placed in the home, the shelf underneath should not become dirty once the plastic film has been removed from the substrate. At the same time, the packaging should be made of recyclable material wherever possible - and still represent value. Conserving resources, minimising the ecological footprint and focusing on regional products are the cornerstones of Kernser Edelpilze's corporate concept. The packaging for the mushroom factory had to fit seamlessly into this philosophy.

Clever concept: shipping packaging becomes a substrate tray

Our development team at the Grunbach site has succeeded in doing just that: The one-piece packaging saves material in production and is therefore extremely economical. We chose a brown kraftliner for the inner and outer liner, which can easily withstand the daily spraying of the mushrooms. Its appearance symbolises environmental friendliness, while at the same time the B-flute supports effective advertising printing. The printed FSC® label documents that the raw materials used to produce the packaging come from responsible forestry. Intelligent folding and a self-adhesive strip to close the cardboard box ensure quick packing - an important criterion for Kernser Edelpilze in view of the growing demand. After receiving the parcel, the customer opens the carton on the side with the seal, after which the bottom part of the carton simply remains standing as a "bed".

With the new development of the carton, Klingele has once again demonstrated its high level of development expertise. In addition, the co-operation was absolutely uncomplicated: The delivery times are very short and the team always responded quickly to our enquiries, regardless of whether it was about a new idea or different samples.
Patrick Häcki, Managing Director of Kernser Edelpilze

The quantities for the mushroom factory are still manageable - but the feedback from the ambitious mushroom growers has been consistently positive. "The packaging concept for the mushroom factory is helping us to develop the market for this product; at the same time, it is also a promotional tool for our fresh mushrooms. We therefore benefit from the collaboration with Klingele in several ways."

Do you also have sensitive products that you want to send to your customers in a safe and environmentally friendly way? We can also develop the perfect sustainable packaging solution for you. Write to us!