FAQ

Can you eat it?

Well, you could, and because it’s all natural it wouldn’t hurt you. But, it’s non-nutritious and doesn’t taste very good, so we do not recommend it.

Can it grow anywhere? Is this like Foam-In-Place?

Mushroom® Packaging grows in special sterile environmental conditions, so it has to be grown in a Restore factory. Eventually we plan to develop a turnkey manufacturing system that could be leased or franchised out to other packagers. Restore may still be a great alternative to your insta-pak for pre-molded solutions.

Can you make packing peanuts?

We could make packaging peanuts, but we’re focusing on higher value molded packaging buffers.

What other applications are there for your materials?

Eventually, we hope to replace all sorts of materials that are synthetic or energy intensive to produce. We envision a world where insulation, wind turbine blade cores, surfboard cores, cups, and other foam based products are produced using sustainable and natural alternatives. We are also developing the material for insulation.

Are your materials really made out of mushrooms?

Not quite. We use fungal mycelium, which is basically the roots of mushrooms.* The mycelium acts like a glue to bond agricultural byproducts together into a rigid material. We don’t let the mycelium grow long enough to produce mushrooms. That means you never have to worry about spores or allergens. At the end of our process, the materials are just as dead as a cardboard box, so you don’t have to worry about mushrooms sprouting from it or anything like that.

How much does it cost?

That depends on your needs, but generally it is cost competitive with molded and fabricated foams like EPS, EPP and EPE. We believe that you can achieve sustainability without sacrificing performance or affordability.

What’s the shelf life?

As long as it’s kept dry and clean, it will last essentially forever. Just like the wood in your house, it’s biodegradable but needs a biological trigger to start breaking down.

Is it OK for food contact?

It might be, but we haven’t gotten FDA food contact certification yet. It does work great for insulated secondary packaging for food that’s already in a sealed container.