A UK company that grows protective packaging from mushroom roots (mycelium) and farm waste as a plastic-free replacement for polystyrene foam.
The Magical Mushroom Company makes packaging from mushrooms. It grows mycelium, the root-like network of a mushroom, through agricultural waste such as hemp, and moulds the result into protective packaging that does the job of expanded polystyrene, the white foam that surrounds many products in boxes. The company says its material biodegrades in about 45 days, is durable and costs about the same as fossil-fuel-based packaging. It describes its goal as turning waste into value and unlocking the potential of mycelium.
The company launched in 2019 and is led by Paul Gilligan, who is the chief executive and founder. He has said that businesses need viable and cost-effective solutions that significantly reduce the carbon footprint across their whole supply chain. In its early years the business worked as the UK production arm of Symbiotec, which had a licence for mushroom packaging technology from Ecovative Design, the American firm that pioneered the approach. We found no separate formal mission statement beyond those descriptions, so the lines above are the best guide to what it stands for.
In the UK, a February 2020 report put its first production at a 5,000 square foot facility in Esher, Surrey, with a second larger site of 30,000 square feet being considered. Its material is made by combining mycelium and hemp, moulding it for about six days and then drying it in a kiln. Customers named in coverage include Raymarine, BA Components, Castrads, Ffern, Selfridges, Lush, Seedlip and ID Watch. Early applications included protective packaging for gin bottles, and the company has talked about consumer electronics, health and beauty as other markets. We could not confirm from the pages we read where the company is based today, so check its website before relying on the Esher address.
We found very little describing the company's culture or the size of its team. The only person named in the articles is Mr Gilligan, who in 2020 was described as chief operating officer and later as chief executive. A business like this, which grows its product in a controlled space, is more like a farm and a factory combined than a typical start-up. It makes sense to expect hands-on work, but that is our inference, not a company claim.
Roles that exist at such a company include bioscientists and growers who manage the mycelium, production staff who run the moulds and drying kilns, packaging designers who shape the product to fit a customer's item, sales and account managers, and finance and operations staff. Biology, food science, packaging design and engineering are all useful starting points. Check the company's own site for current openings and for the latest on its production site.
Website: magicalmushroom.com
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