03 Januari 2008
Berita NST : Couple's mushrooming venture
SEPANG: When Vita Agrotech Sdn Bhd says business is mushrooming, it quite literally is. The company is one of the main mushroom producers in the country.
Founded by a husband-and-wife team more than 10 years ago, the couple's vast experience in growing and developing product-based mushroom has attracted clients from as far as Singapore and South Korea.
P.G. Cheng and her husband C.K. Ooi are looking out for opportunities to expand their client base this year, even to the US because of the growing interest in their products, especially in food supplements.
"We constantly eye new markets and this year plans are under way to expand our business to the US and Australia.
"Interest is rapidly growing in both countries and the business prospect is bright.
"For instance, even before we widely market our mushroom products in these countries, we have received small-scale orders from buyers in the US," Cheng said.
Cheng, who has a degree in biochemistry, added that in Malaysia, their clients came from different part of the country, including Pahang and Johor but mostly from the Klang Valley.
She said the interest to venture into the mushroom business started in 1987 when "everyone seemed to be growing mushrooms and mushroom farms were sprouting like mushrooms!"
"The mushroom frenzy got us excited too and that's how it got us started with Vita Mushroom Enterprise in 1989 and later our marketing arm, Vita Marketing, was formed.
"As our company grew bigger, Vita Agrotech Sdn Bhd was established in 1997 and Ganofarm Sdn Bhd in 2006."
Vita Agrotech was formed to increase research on cultivation of edible mushroom with 40 farm houses.
Ganofarm is focusing on medicinal mushroom, medicinal properties, cultivation and product development which saw the Ganoderma lucidium (Ling-zhi) products from four lines -- healthcare, personal care, beverages and cosmetics -- being marketed.
With six varieties of mushrooms growing on its 8ha farm in Tanjung Sepat, near here, strict measures are imposed to ensure healthy and high quality mushrooms.
"Our 100 workers are required to wear gloves and face masks when handling the mushrooms. To prevent contamination, every day we clean the areas where the mushrooms are growing. It is a labour-intensive industry," she added.
The different types of mushroom being cultivated in the farm are the genodera or better known as Ling-zhi, the two pleurotus varieties, abalone, hericium, also known as the monkey head mushroom, and the auricularia, also known as the black jelly mushroom.
There were three methods to grow mushrooms -- using logs, bags and beds -- said Ooi, a former teacher.
"In our farm, which is free from chemicals and pesticides, we grow the mushrooms in plastic bags packed with sawdust.
"We can produce between 30 and 40 tonnes of mushrooms per month."
He said the stringent measures taken to ensure quality had resulted in the company being awarded the ISO 9001-2000 standard certification, SALM certification (Good Agriculture Practice) and now going for SOM certification (Organic Farming).
"Our farm also has collaborations with local universities and the Agriculture Department for, among others, the research and development in mushroom cultivation, training of undergraduates and new growers, and research of medicinal values of various mushrooms grown in Malay- sia by postgraduates.
"To produce more specialty mushroom-based products, we have formed a product development unit and sampling and testing counter in the farm.
"Also our farm is involved in agro-tourism through education and promotion of mushroom as a healthy food," he said.
Nota projekcendawan: Vita Agro Tech merupakan salah satu pengusaha cendawan yang telah 20 tahun berkecimpung di dalam industri cendawan.
P.G. Cheng showing the Ling-zhi mushroom growing on the farm in Tanjung Sepat.
| A closer view of the black jelly mushrooms at the farm. — NST pictures by Azura Abas |
P.G. Cheng and her husband C.K. Ooi are looking out for opportunities to expand their client base this year, even to the US because of the growing interest in their products, especially in food supplements.
"We constantly eye new markets and this year plans are under way to expand our business to the US and Australia.
"Interest is rapidly growing in both countries and the business prospect is bright.
Cheng, who has a degree in biochemistry, added that in Malaysia, their clients came from different part of the country, including Pahang and Johor but mostly from the Klang Valley.
She said the interest to venture into the mushroom business started in 1987 when "everyone seemed to be growing mushrooms and mushroom farms were sprouting like mushrooms!"
"The mushroom frenzy got us excited too and that's how it got us started with Vita Mushroom Enterprise in 1989 and later our marketing arm, Vita Marketing, was formed.
"As our company grew bigger, Vita Agrotech Sdn Bhd was established in 1997 and Ganofarm Sdn Bhd in 2006."
Vita Agrotech was formed to increase research on cultivation of edible mushroom with 40 farm houses.
Ganofarm is focusing on medicinal mushroom, medicinal properties, cultivation and product development which saw the Ganoderma lucidium (Ling-zhi) products from four lines -- healthcare, personal care, beverages and cosmetics -- being marketed.
With six varieties of mushrooms growing on its 8ha farm in Tanjung Sepat, near here, strict measures are imposed to ensure healthy and high quality mushrooms.
"Our 100 workers are required to wear gloves and face masks when handling the mushrooms. To prevent contamination, every day we clean the areas where the mushrooms are growing. It is a labour-intensive industry," she added.
The different types of mushroom being cultivated in the farm are the genodera or better known as Ling-zhi, the two pleurotus varieties, abalone, hericium, also known as the monkey head mushroom, and the auricularia, also known as the black jelly mushroom.
There were three methods to grow mushrooms -- using logs, bags and beds -- said Ooi, a former teacher.
"In our farm, which is free from chemicals and pesticides, we grow the mushrooms in plastic bags packed with sawdust.
"We can produce between 30 and 40 tonnes of mushrooms per month."
He said the stringent measures taken to ensure quality had resulted in the company being awarded the ISO 9001-2000 standard certification, SALM certification (Good Agriculture Practice) and now going for SOM certification (Organic Farming).
"Our farm also has collaborations with local universities and the Agriculture Department for, among others, the research and development in mushroom cultivation, training of undergraduates and new growers, and research of medicinal values of various mushrooms grown in Malay- sia by postgraduates.
"To produce more specialty mushroom-based products, we have formed a product development unit and sampling and testing counter in the farm.
"Also our farm is involved in agro-tourism through education and promotion of mushroom as a healthy food," he said.
Nota projekcendawan: Vita Agro Tech merupakan salah satu pengusaha cendawan yang telah 20 tahun berkecimpung di dalam industri cendawan.
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