grow fungi in hawaii (sales, loans, hotels)

[luluhappygirl]

we would like to grow fungi in hawaii, big island, and we will ship the products to other countries as china, japan or Korea. I have some questions as below,
1. do we need to apply with the hawaii state gov?
2. if the answer for the first question is yes, then which department we need to contact with?
3. how long it will probably take to get the check and licences to plant that?
before post here, i tried to google it, but it seems my key words are not that correct, if you can not give me the answer but could give me some links related to my question, Thank you all the same!
Thanks in advance

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by luluhappygirl

we would like to grow fungi in hawaii, big island, and we will ship the products to other countries as china, japan or Korea. I have some questions as below,
1. do we need to apply with the hawaii state gov?
2. if the answer for the first question is yes, then which department we need to contact with?
3. how long it will probably take to get the check and licences to plant that?
before post here, i tried to google it, but it seems my key words are not that correct, if you can not give me the answer but could give me some links related to my question, Thank you all the same!
Thanks in advance

You might want to start with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, since they are the agency that issues import and export permits for plant materials.

Export Inspection Program | Plant Industry Division

For import permits to "other countries as china, japan or Korea" I'd start by contacting their national governments.

[hotzcatz]

You need a Hawaii tax license to produce and sell, dunno what else you need for the export part. The tax license is cheap and easy, probably less than $50 and fill out the papers at the tax office. Might even be less than that, they want folks to sign up and pay taxes. You get it the same day you apply for it, too.

There is already one mushroom farm on the Big Island, although they don't grow the common button type mushroom. I haven't a clue why, that's the one we would buy if they had it available. They do sell to the grocery stores and restaurants. Dunno if they export or not.

Other than export, you could probably sell locally and within the islands, too.

Department of Agriculture | State of Hawaii | Department of Agriculture That's one Hawaii gov site on importing.

[Dthraco]

What did one mushroom say to the other? Are you a Fun Guy?

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by Dthraco

What did one mushroom say to the other? Are you a Fun Guy?

Rimshot - YouTube

[KaraBenNemsi]

Growing quality edible mushrooms in Hawaii could be a very rewarding business. No need to foreign export, as even the local sales potential in our state is enormous. Hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, military, COSTCO, Whole Foods, farmers markets. The export to the US mainland should be easier than other products as mushrooms grow in controlled environments (caves, green houses, sheds, etc). Your land needs would not be too much, but you want to be close to the shipping points or where you can find labor or supplies quick when needed.

Do you have experience in growing mushrooms, because it is a rather complex enterprise depending on the kind of mushrooms you want to grow?

The local government/HDOA should be the least of your concern and would be more than helpful to get you going. What you need to look at first is getting a business outline together and some market research, then finding the right farm location and getting the right equipment. And that depends on what kind of mushrooms you want to grow. The HDOA will assist you with ag loans and CTHAR with some ag advice, but don't count on the few local competitors to give you business tips & contacts.

Do not forget that you not only want to grow mushrooms, but also have to sell them: A sound, detailed and long term business plan is absolutely needed before you spend hard dollars.

Good luck!

[KauaiHiker]

This is one case where having a lava tube on your land would be ideal.

I am a bit worried by the OP's questions however. They seem very uncertain and inexperienced. Everybody has to start somewhere, but a viable business of any kind, let alone farming/agriculture, takes years and years of experience and effort.

I was just thinking that we bought some Big Island mushrooms at the Costco here on Kaua'i--and they were delicious. I'm pretty sure it was these:

http://hamakuamushrooms.com/

If you're starting your own farm, you will have competition in that field. If you have business experience or contacts in Asia for selling mushrooms, perhaps you could get a job with that company.

[hotzcatz]

Are there any restrictions about which type of mushrooms can be brought into the state? I see in some of the gardening catalogs that they won't send spawn logs (logs with mushroom spores on them - sort of like mushroom seeds) to Hawaii. I don't know why, it might just be shipping difficulties or something other than because that type of mushroom is not allowed into the state. It's hard to tell why something won't be shipped when there's so many places that won't send stuff to Hawaii for whatever their silly reasoning is.

[KaraBenNemsi]

Here's the FaceBook page of Hamakua Mushrooms Farm. And also a short nice
video

This is not a start-up anymore, so don't be intimidated! They sell 5,500 lbs of mushrooms per week now to over 200 restaurants/hotels and 70 supermarkets in Hawaii. Glad when folks realize their dream and it takes off.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Are there any restrictions about which type of mushrooms can be brought into the state? I see in some of the gardening catalogs that they won't send spawn logs (logs with mushroom spores on them - sort of like mushroom seeds) to Hawaii. I don't know why, it might just be shipping difficulties or something other than because that type of mushroom is not allowed into the state.

Hawai'i State Department of Agriculture - Plant Quarantine Division is responsible for examining all plants, insects, microorganisms, and non-domestic animals imported into the state for prohibited varieties and invasive pests. Many items require prior permission to bring in. I'm guessing individual shipments of live cultures, like mushroom spawn logs, are just too much trouble, so vendors mostly don't bother.

I'm intrigued to find out more. OP said fungi, everyone else jumped on the idea of edible mushrooms, whereas my thoughts went to medicinal fungi for Oriental medicine, since the target market is Asian countries.

It will be fun to find out what's what.