Cheaper, better-quality produce at double the yield – this is what Singapore's newest mushroom farm is looking to achieve with the help of automation and artificial intelligence.
The vertical farm expects to meet a third of local demand from consumers for white button mushrooms and is looking to price them at about S$7.50 per kg, or even lower. This is about half the current market price.
The farm, to be operated by Finc Bio-Tech Mushroom, is set to be built on a land parcel the size of three football fields at Sungei Tengah Close.
It hopes to start growing its first batch of mushrooms next year.
"The mushroom industry has been developed (on) a scale … that, for example, in China and Japan, at least 70 per cent of mushrooms are now grown in the factory. So that's why we want to duplicate our successful experience in other markets," said Finc Bio-Tech Mushroom representative Bao Shengjie.
The Shanghai-based firm, which claims to be the world's largest Shimeji mushroom manufacturer, has been growing mushrooms for decades. It also exports its produce to Singapore.
Finc runs four facilities in China that are powered by big data, AI and automation, producing nearly 260 tonnes of mushrooms – or the weight of 65 elephants – daily.
Now, it will bring similar technology to Singapore for the first time.
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