Lithuania is still unknown territory for many people, although the number of tourists is rising each year. The incredibly beautiful natural landscapes filled with emerald pine forests, clear lakes, rolling hills and gentle plains, excellent roads and the beaches at Palanga make Lithuania a worthwhile holiday destination. But what about the situation regarding mushroom growing there? Currently 90% of Lithuania's total production is in the hands of the Baltic Champignons company.

In 1994 the Baltic Champignons company was founded by Kæstutis Juðèius. In the early days it was difficult to gather the right raw materials and skill needed to prepare compost. Poland was an often consulted country for the necessary knowledge about this subject. Ten years down the road the company has grown into an impressive operation that commands the entire chain of mushroom production from buying the raw materials to exporting the final crop.

Phase 1

At the moment 700 tons of phase 1 compost is produced weekly. The basic material for the compost is wheat straw, broiler slurry and gypsum. This synthetic compost requires a composting time of 15 days. On day 1 the straw bales are loosened and soaked in bath. This bath contains liquid manure with 100% of the broiler slurry and gypsum. The compost then spends 1 day on an aerated floor to drain away the excess liquid.  Afterwards the compost is treated in an aerated bunker system for the rest of the process. Up to 65 degrees Celsius compost temperatureJuðèius pays particular attention to intensively aerating the compost. This process stimulates micro activity optimally so the waxy layer around the straw starts to decompose. Once this has decomposed, the compost is taken to a higher temperature (80 degrees Celsius) to initiate the chemical composting process.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is a tunnel system with drag nets. The tunnel is filled from the front and emptied at the rear, where the block presses are ready for action. 40% of the phase 2 compost is supplied in standard blocks of around 20 kilograms with the remaining 60% being supplied in bulk. The compost in blocks is exported to Latvia, Estonia and Poland, while a part is destined for the home market in Lithuania. 75% of the total amount of compost produced is for the company's own growing facilities.

Plans are currently in the pipeline to start making phase 3 compost. The advantages of incubated compost will give Juðèius more mushrooms of a higher quality. This will be an equal extra selling point when marketing the phase 3 compost.

Farms

Baltic Champignons owns three farms with a total growing surface area of 22000 m². Cultivation is done on Dutch style shelving. Computers control the climate. Four years ago the owner bought a kolkhoz, a big bankrupted pig farm where 500 people were working. The building is chanced into a mushroom farm of twelve rooms with a total surface of 14.200 m². At the moment 100 pickers are employed here. A monthly wage is about 250 euro and is increasing quite fast (150 euro in 2002).

The farms are filled with phase 2 compost, with casing soil being applied after 16 days. The casing soil is made and mixed by the company itself and the peat used is locally sourced. After casing and spraying, the upper surface is ruffled five days later. On day 18 after casing the first flush can be picked. A total of three flushes are picked, amounting to a total yield of 29 kilograms per square metre. After three flushes the growing rooms are cooked out for eight hours at a compost temperature of 70 degrees Celsius.

Baltic Champignons have another three satellite companies that buy the compost and supply their mushrooms in turn to Baltic. These farms were built under Baltic's supervision. The owners of these satellite companies are advised and supported in the cultivation process by the four mushroom growers responsible for the mushrooms at Baltic Champignons. The growers only meet if the busy schedule allows, or if any problems occur.

Marketing

The total mushroom production of Baltic Champignons is approximately 330 tons per month, 70% of which is exported to Russia and Scandinavia. However, the name of the company says it all. Their aim is to supply the Baltic State in particular with mushrooms, of excellent quality and fresh supplies daily. At the present time 50% of all the mushrooms sold in Lithuania and Latvia originate on a Baltic Champignons farm. In Estonia this figure rises to 90%. This amazing total has been achieved by intense cooperation with retail outlets focused on encouraging mushroom sales. They export mainly to Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic states.
This summer the company started also to deliver 2000 kg brown mushrooms per week.

The average consumption per head in the Baltic states lies between 350 and 500 gram, wild mushrooms not included. Especially in autumn people eat a lot of wild mushrooms instead of the Agaricus species.

The company makes every effort to achieve and maintain customer satisfaction. Part of the strategy is give-away recipes at the point of sale and to make sure that each supermarket is supplied with fresh mushrooms. Quality is a major consideration. Juðèius is convinced that quality is the motivating factor prompting consumer to buy mushrooms or other customers to buy his compost.