Montreal Company Sprouts Mushrooms from Restaurant Waste

Connector Winter 2017

A Moreau Street warehouse located in the heart of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough in Montreal houses an urban farm complete with six greenhouses where oyster mushrooms are produced from old coffee grounds and other restaurant waste.

Friends Dominique Lynch-Gauthier and Lysiane Roy-Maheu founded the company over a year ago and haven’t looked back.

The mushrooms grow in 1,200 containers, and Lynch-Gauthier said they harvest about 200 kg a week.

The conditions in the greenhouse must be just right to harvest the best quality mushroom, so temperature and humidity are carefully controlled.

Roy-Maheu, who is more focused on the sales and marketing side of the company, said she was attracted by the environmental aspect of the project.

“It’s really the concept of the circular economy, so taking leftovers that are destined for the garbage and using it to make food,” she explained.

Roy-Maheu said that Blanc de Gris buy old coffee grounds from several restaurants and also collects brewery grains, a by-product from the brewing of beer, from a bar in the area.

The company currently supplies mushrooms to about thirty restaurateurs in the city, and the co-founders hope to increase their clientele going forward.

Source: CBC News