Availability Issues and Alternatives
For over a year we have been struggling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to personal limitations, we also experience new, sometimes extreme challenges in our professional environment. And if that wasn’t enough, there are other circumstances that make life difficult for all of us.
That’s how Unicorn Imp. & Mfg. Corp., the manufacturer of the bags that are the foundation of our mushroom business, is facing several challenges right now:
- Unicorn emphasizes a lot on the health of its employees. Various hygiene measures were implemented to contain the spread of Coronavirus. In consequence that it is not possible to work with a full workforce and therefore not at maximum capacity.
- The resin as the most important raw material in bag production is currently hardly available on the market or only at very high prices (>40-50% increase) due to various factors. The supply of the raw material is currently insufficient.
- The state of Texas was hit with an extreme weather situation and is still suffering the effects. In some cases, the power supply to large areas has failed completely and important pipes were frozen or even burst. Unicorn’s production in Plano, TX has also been significantly affected by this.
At the same time, we are currently experiencing a remarkable increase in demand for all types of mushroom bags on the market in Europe, but also in the USA. As a result of all this, despite a drastic increase in our stock levels and early reorders, we are no longer able to fully compensate for the delay in delivery caused by Unicorn and therefore some bag types are currently unavailable.
The following types are currently affected (list is continuously updated):
- 3T
- 10T
We expect the next shipment to arrive here in Germany in 5-7 weeks (mid-April) at the earliest.
In principle, the use of alternative filters and sizes is also possible for many use cases. Here is a short overview of our recommendations:
Substrate production
Another filter could be a very good choice here. In our substrate production with over 1.3 million blocks per year, we exclusively use bags with B-filter. In many production processes an A-filter will also result in very good results. Of course, another size can be used at any time.
Spawn production
In spawn production it is mandatory to use a T-filter. The only option here is to choose a different size.