There are a few companies in this space, notably Ecovative, who have been trying to make mycelium-based packaging for almost two decades.
The problem is that it takes around 7 days for each piece of packaging to "grow", and the finished part is heavy and not compressible so it adds significant cost in manufacturing, storage and transit. And these costs don't get any better with scale.
For those reasons, mycelium packaging hasn't seen much adoption beyond being used as a marketing story for high-priced small goods. Environmentally forward companies have tended towards paper-based solutions like molded fiber.
Heavy?
Two packages made from mycelium can behave very differently because “mycelium composite” is a category, not a single recipe. Particle size, fibre content, and the ratio of substrate to mycelium all change density. Higher density generally brings higher compressive strength and better edge definition, but it also increases weight and can reduce the springy cushioning that protective packaging needs.
Source: https://dirobots.com/en/mycelium-strength/
Sounds like this might be your area of expertise. For the rest of us, take a shoebox. How much ballpark extra weight we talkin’ to have a livable planet? (Maybe the mushrooms would be ~2x as heavy as standard shoeboxes for example, to meet existing spec.)
Or how about for the glasses box they show on the site in OP, or a plastic sleeve like Americans sell Oreo cookies in. Anybody have any guesses?
I've done some experiments with mycelium as a construction material, but I'm hardly an expert. Mycelium weighs anywhere between 50 and 950kg/m3. Usually you won't have mycelium as thin as cardboard, because you want use mycelium as a 3d buffer, replacing styrofoam. EPS (styrofoam) has densities of 15-30kg/m3. So while it's more sustainable it's also heavier.
Hopefully not used as packaging for Oreos, because unless the fungus has been highly adapted to the substrate, the mycelium will try to grow into the food. Oyster mycelium won't be toxic, but I don't want my Oreos to taste like mushrooms.
I don't think the packaging is supposed to be alive at the time of usage.
Heavy means more fuel to ship it. Maybe still a net-win, I don't know.
Biodegradable foam packaging, as well has food containers, disposable cutlery, etc, has also been made from corn starch for decades.
I’m curious what the advantage of mycelium packaging is over these existing materials. Presumably, it’s not cheaper to produce? Is it mainly that the mycelium degrades faster and can be recycled more easily in home composting, etc? Or is this about creating “hard” plastic-like packaging that resists crushing, water, etc?
Theoretically fungi can live off sawdust, don't need plenty of light or watering, etc, so they should be less expensive than corn.
OTOH corn is highly optimized over centuries of breeding, harvesting, and processing. Fungi, not nearly so, so by now they may be more expensive.
Like real mold on fiber or
No. Think what egg cartons are made of.