9th of February
2004
(FUNGO FF – Këpurdhat)
(Valon A. Syla)
Slug:
One kilo of
Kosovo-grown Tartuffe Mushrooms sells for nearly 8000 € in Western Europe… But
in Kosovo, people here rarely seek them out because they are concerned about
being poisoned.
LINK:
One
kilo of Kosovo-grown wild Tartuffe Mushrooms sells for nearly 8000 € in Western
Europe-- But in Kosovo, people here rarely seek them out because they are
concerned about eating poisoned mushrooms.
People in Kosovo tend to not trust the mushroom hunters or the mushrooms they gather in the forests of Central and Eastern Kosovo.
Hello
and Welcome to UNMIK on Air
This time of year, the woods around Kamenica in eastern Kosovo may be covered in snow. But from early summer through autumn, this forest is ideal for growing wild mushrooms. Some 70% of this region’s forest is a source of revenue for the people who collect and sell wild mushrooms. Fatmir Krasniqi is the co-owner of “Fungo FF” in Kamenica, who 14 years ago got the idea to start a business gathering and selling wild mushrooms:
CUT
1 (tr.2) “Fatmir Krasniqi – “Main activity of our company is gathering,
processing and selling of forest mushrooms. Three years before we start with
production of champignons. Our company “Fungo FF” have 7 regular workers while
during the season work where we have bigger gathering and processing of
mushrooms we have around 30 workers”.
LINK:
After profitable years of collecting and selling these wild mushrooms from
Kosovo to Western Europe, the people behind Fungo FF decided to expand their
business to cultivate mushrooms year round.
The founders of Fungo FF went abroad to learn the trade of greenhouse
mushroom cultivation in France, Italy and Turkey. Once back in Kosovo they put
their knowledge into practice. And now Fatmir Maloku, co-owner of “FUNGO FF,”
walks through his greenhouse production facility describing how he grows
mushrooms in Kosovo:
CUT
2 (tr. 3) Fatmir Maloku – “Here in this place you can see process of
mushrooms incubation. This process lasts around 30 days, 20 days of incubation
and 10 days before the process is finished the mushrooms have to be veiled.
Temperature in this place must be 24 –25 degrees while during the incubation
phase it must be 33- 34 degrees so we cover them as you can see here, later
temperature have to be lower, when mushrooms start to show up temperature is
around 18 degrees, not lower and not higher”.
LINK:
After a month in incubation the mushrooms are moved to a second conservatory.
Usually the quality of the mushrooms grown in the greenhouse differ from the
wild mushrooms gathered in the forests of Kamenica, but FUNGO FF technician,
Hysen Ahmeti, says the results of the cultivated mushrooms are consistent and
flavorful. Ahmeti describes the second
stage of the cultivation process:
CUT
3 (tr. 4) Hysen Ahmeti – “Now we are in workshop number two where after the
incubation period which last one month mushrooms begin to show up. There are
three necessary factors for normal process of mushrooms: temperature,
suffusing, humidity and also air ventilation has to be proper. Now temperature
has to be 18 degrees for normal development of mushrooms.”
LINK: With the right climate conditions in the FUNGO FF mushroom factory, Fatmir Krasniqi and his colleagues can produce up to 20 tons of home-grown champignons a year. These are sold on the local Kosovo market. The highly sought after wild forest mushrooms of Kamenica are still exported to Western Europe where they garner a much higher asking price:
CUT
4 (tr.5) Fatmir Krasniqi –“We have two markets, Kosovar market where we have a
low number of interested customers who wants to use wild mushrooms so that’s
why champignons are more used in Kosova market either fresh or conserved
mushrooms. I have to mention that last year we had export to France and they
were very satisfied with our products and quality. Our company pays attention
to this and we don’t use pesticides from Balkan countries, which are forbidden
from European union.”
LINK:
FUNGO FF founder, Fatmir Krasniqi can’t answer why wild mushrooms are not
popular with Kosovo’s consumers like they are in the rest of Europe. But Bashkim who this reporter encountered on
Bill Clinton Boulevard in downtown Pritina is a self-described a connoisseur of
mushrooms. Bashkim is one of the rare
individuals in Kosovo who buys and eats wild mushrooms at home. Bashkim explains why he thinks wild
mushrooms are not very popular in Kosovo’s markets:
CUT
5 (tr. 1) “The reasons that wild mushrooms are not very wanted in Kosovo
market has to do with culture of food. On other hand, Kosovo is very wealthy
with mushrooms, but people are not very aware which is the right mushroom and
they do not eat it very often in their kitchen.”
LINK:
But champignons are very popular; almost every restaurant in Kosovo has them on
their menus. Whether people buy wild mushrooms or champignons cultivated
indoors, the nutritious value according to the owner of FUNGO FF is nearly the
same.
CUT
6 Fatmir Krasniqi “Consumers can buy one plate of 300 gr. mushrooms for 1
euro. Taking into consideration calories which mushrooms content in some
analysis there is that 100 gr of mushrooms can replace 200 gr stake and it have
500 times more albumins then milk has.”
END:
Fungi FF has taken a natural resource, wild mushrooms, and turned it into a
moneymaking commodity on the international market. On the other hand they
supply the Kosovo Market with champignons that are produced indoors,
potentially more attractive to local consumers. And in doing so…FUNGO FF they have boosted their own income by
supplementing lucrative seasonal production with a year-round alternative.
That was ll for this edition of UNMIK on Air, Thanks for listening. Goodbye…