HeveaBoard to triple production of king oyster mushrooms

GEMAS: Particleboard manufacturer HeveaBoard Bhd plans to triple its production of king oyster mushrooms following the early success of this venture at its current plant.

Group managing director Yoong Hau Chan said although the plant, commissioned in June, was only running at 20% capacity, the venture has been successful.

“Our long-term plan is to commission another plant in the future, which will allow us to produce a total of 270 tonnes per month for the local market,” he said at the official opening of the RM15mil facility here.

“We will grow the mushrooms in our stateof-the-art climate-controlled rooms. We use natural rubber tree bark as the substrate, which is sterilised before we cultivate the mushroom.”

The venture, through its wholly owned subsidiary HeveaGro, also makes it the first local producer of king oyster or eryngii mushrooms.

Yoong said that at present, Malaysia imported its king oyster mushrooms from South Korea and China.

He said the production at its facility was totally organic without any addition of fertiliser or pesticides.

“The eryngii is rich in nutrients and anti-oxidants and a super-health food. Judging from the initial response from the market, we are confident of this being a success story,” he said.

He added that 100 tonnes of rubber wood bark is supplied from HeveaBoard’s particle- board plant daily, which mushroom cultivation.

Yoong said HeveaGro currently contributed about 2% to group revenue. “We wish to raise this to between 10% and 15% eventually,” he said.

Yoong said the demand for the eryngii was huge.

“We find that our mushrooms also taste better and has good texture and is cheaper compared to the imported ones,” he said, adding that the company hoped to export the mushrooms in the future. is then used for