02/23/2016 14h50

São Paulo shiitake hub manages to evade crisis

Valor International

Every week, trucks loaded with a composite of questionable appearance come out from this factory in Sorocaba toward rural properties in the interior of São Paulo state. Wrapped in transparent plastic, hermetically sealed, the composite recalls a large loaf of bread past its expiry date — mold already covers its entire surface. They are blocks of wood sawdust mixed with grain meal, inoculated by fungi. In some cases, better not to know the origin of things — but from here comes one of the most appreciated varieties of mushrooms, shiitake.

Having been operating for only 20 years, Yuri Cogumelos is the big national supplier of shiitake, without which the Brazilian production of such mushroom wouldn’t exist. “It is not something bucolic,” says Iwao Akamatsu, partner of the company, referring to the industrial process that makes up the business. “There is a lot of technology involved. It is not about picking mushrooms in the forest as it still happens in Japan.”

From its two production lines in Sorocaba emerge monthly 140,000 blocks of composites for shiitake production, after a process of at least two months of preparation and rest. The 60 employees divide their activities between the initial work of preparing the sawdust — mixed with wheat, rice and soybean meal, and then water and limestone — until the inoculation.

The creation of Yuri Cogumelos in Sorocaba led to the development of a shiitake-producing hub in the area within 100 kilometers from the city. Yuri currently has 45 clients. Together, they produce about 80 tonnes of shiitake and sell R$2.4 million per month, Mr. Akamatsu says. “The entire production is distributed in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and north of Paraná. Unfortunately, we don’t have conditions to ship to farther places. The mushrooms wouldn’t survive the trip.”

Producing blocks to cultivate shiitake was not something that came naturally to the executive, even though his father, like many in the Japanese community in Brazil, had worked in agriculture. One of eight children, Mr. Akamatsu wanted to be a physician. But his family had no means to pay his cram school, and he gave up the idea. Without cram school, he got into the physics course of the University of São Paulo and one year later went to the College of Architecture and Urbanism, after another entrance exam.

The fungiculture only appeared as business opportunity decades later. It was his father-in-law who convinced him to research “this mushroom business.” Specifically shiitake, still without a structured offering in Brazil. For two years, Mr. Akamatsu invested in home-made production until being certain that the mushroom could be a real business.

Then came the surprise: other producers noticed that Mr. Akamatsu’s mix had excellent yields. And they began to ask him to supply blocks of composite to them too. Then Yuri, from a competitor, turned into almost exclusive supplier of the input for shiitake production in Brazil.

“If Iwao decides to change of profession again, shiitake ends in Brazil,” says Daniel Gomes, fungiculture researcher of the São Paulo Association of Agribusiness Technology (APTA), which is linked to the state Secretariat of Agriculture. He says that Mr. Akamatsu currently serves practically 80% of the domestic shiitake market. The rest is dispersed among small suppliers, “not even remotely as technically adept as Yuri.”

Such turn of events demanded more professionalization. Mr. Akamatsu applied for a scholarship from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and spent three months studying the subject at a reference center for mushroom production. From that experience came the machinery — mixers and autoclave, which works as a pressure chamber for sterilization. And adaptations of raw materials to the local reality, such as sawdust of eucalyptus (in Japan oak is used).

With a R$10 million investment at the time, using its own money, in six months Yuri increased its production to 1 tonne from 120 kilograms per month, “only changing the technique,” Mr. Akamatsu says. The company doesn’t disclose how much it makes, but each block of composite sells for about R$4. That is, the declared monthly turnover is R$560,000.

He complains of the higher production cost, led by electricity, but says he will not pass even half of the added cost on to the price. The moment is to maintain sales and win new customers. Consumption per capita in the country is still very low, of 150 grams per year, compared with 7 kilograms in Japan.

Shiitake competes with shimeji for the second place in the mushroom market, which the cheaper common mushroom (or champignon de Paris) leads by a wide margin. Of 12,000 tonnes of mushroom produced per year in Brazil, 8,000 are of common mushroom.

This finding was considered in Yuri’s investment plans. The idea is to implement vertical production and develop shiitake-based products, such as sauces. Mr. Akamatsu says the company has already acquired the land for the future unit, but the investment will depend on the economic scenario.

For now, Mr. Akamatsu says he has no reason to complain. When Valor visited its factory in Sorocaba, Yuri was hiring, and the line of candidates was long.