You have to grow the fungi on some organic material such as sawdust using a ton of energy and disposable plastics to sterilize and culture the mycelium. Why not simply use the sawdust or whatever as a soft packing material on its own?
In all of the use cases where I have seen mushroom packaging being called for, a traditional green packaging could have been used instead. Recycled paper is a very versatile material and is very easy to work with.
A wide variety of packaging can be made from cardboard & cardstock with a simple steel rule die. If custom shapes are needed, then compressed fiber like fast-food drink trays are an option. There are starch-based packing peanuts that can replace polystyrene peanuts. There's a lot more room for innovation beyond what we already have too, I think Amazon's paper mailers are a good example.
I'm with you 100% on this. I actually cultivate gourmet mushrooms as a hobby (started about 15 years ago when I took a course in university) and am a big fan of mycology and the importance of fungi ecologically, nutritionally, and medicinally.
However, there are, IMO, currently significant environmental downsides to indoor mushroom cultivation. Mushrooms are having a "moment" and there is a gold rush to throw them at everything under the sun.
Have you ever felt mycelium? Mycelium is much softer than loose sawdust. It’s very bouncy and porous.
There’s exceptions, of course. Reishi mycelium is extremely hard. A student once created a canoe out of Reishi mycelium and successfully paddled it around. Hobbyists who grow Reishi at home often complain how it is nearly impossible to scoop Reishi mycelium out of the jars they grow in. But I digress, the vast majority of species have soft mycelium.
I've grown mushrooms as a hobby for 15 years. All myceliated substrates harden when they dry out, regardless of the species of fungi. You are relying on this property when you pack something in it.
All the mycelium packing material examples I have seen involve a variation of packing a mold with myceliated substrate (usually sawdust) and then when the myclieum finishes colonizing the sawdust you dry it out to lock in the form.
Cool, I’ve been growing mushrooms as well for many years.
Even dried mycelium is much more airy then sawdust. Plus, using sawdust as a packing material will leave a mess when the customer unboxes their product. It’ll also cover the product itself. Mycelium will at least stay in one piece.
