How Mycelium Packaging Is Made

It starts with parali

After the rice harvest, fields across North India are left covered in stubble, called parali. Much of it is burned, which adds to the smoke that hangs over the region every winter.

We collect parali and other crop leftovers from farms instead. That waste is our raw material.

Chopped and pasteurised

The straw is chopped into small pieces so it packs evenly into a mould.

Then it is pasteurised. This clears out unwanted moulds and bacteria, so the mycelium gets a clean start.

Mycelium goes in

Next we mix in mycelium. It is the root network of mushrooms: the fine white threads that grow underground, not the mushroom you see.

Spread through the straw, it is still alive and ready to grow.

The threads do the binding

The mix is packed into a mould with the exact shape we need: a box, an ice box wall, an insert for a jar.

Over a few days the mycelium spreads through the straw and knits the loose fibres into one solid piece. No glue, no plastic binder.

Growth stops here

Once the part has grown into shape, it comes out of the mould and is dried and heat-treated.

This stops the growth for good. The finished part is inert and stable, so it will not keep growing in your warehouse or on the shelf.

Ready to ship

What comes out is light, strong packaging: inserts, ice boxes, jar boxes and custom shapes. It cushions like thermocol and keeps the cold in.

Then it goes back to soil

When you are done with it, break it up and add it to a home compost pit or garden soil. It breaks down in weeks.

Thermocol does not. It sits in landfills and drains for a very long time. Mycelium packaging ends up feeding the soil it came from.