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V O L . X X I I I N O. X V J U LY 1 0 , 2 0 1 7 20 S O U T H E R N M A I N E F O C U S grain), blocks on which the spawn is seeded and fi nally the mushrooms that grow on the blocks and are sold to consumers. Doing all three parts involves science, specialty instruments and investment. So now, North Spore is the only one of the three doing all three parts, but it is starting to focus on the spawn, which it sells to Maine Cap N' Stem to put onto the blocks it now focuses on making. Maine Cap N' Stem in turn sells to Farming Fungi, which produces the fruit sold at market. "Everyone is at a diff erent stage," says Eliah anhauser, head of operations at North Spore, which he started three years ago with Jon Carver, head mycol- ogist, and Matt McInnis, head of marketing. His company, which is closing in on $1 million in revenue, still mostly from its fresh mushrooms, plans to start focusing more on selling spawn and value-added products like a new soy, ginger and Shiitake mush- room pickle that it aims to sell this month, a chaga mushroom beer it made with Lone Pine Brewing in Portland and medicinal mushrooms like Lion's Mane. anhauser says spawn and value-added products are more scalable than the fresh mushrooms. " ere's also a huge market for our mushroom grow kit at garden centers like Skillins and Broadway Gardens, where it retails for about $20," anhauser says. North Spore also makes plugs that can be planted in live logs to grow mushrooms. e company is awaiting delivery of a large auto- clave that can sterilize more mushrooms faster. North Spore, which currently has 12 full- and part-time employees in about 5,400 square feet of offi ce and indoor growing space, can increase the $200,000 in spawn it now produces to more than $1 million with the new autoclave, which replaces many small pres- sure cookers, says Carver. Still, North Spore continues to sell fresh mush- rooms to 75 restaurants, and is on the menu by name at Sur Lie and fellow tapas restaurant Local 188, which ยป C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Mushrooms at North Spore in Westbrook.