About Us
Agaricus Robotics Ltd is a high-profile spin-out from the University of Lincoln, home to the world’s first Global Centre for Excellence in Agricultural Robotics. The company is also funded and supported by the Ceres Agri-tech Fund and by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercial arm of the University of Cambridge.
Robotic crop harvesting is listed as the number one UK and a global priority for the fresh produce sector to help address the growing labour crisis. The mushroom industry is one of those sectors facing significant labour shortages exasperated by the need to pick mushrooms by hand to avoid bruising.
Agaricus Robotics was founded to meet this challenge by developing a commercially viable novel mushroom harvesting robot that can autonomously pick individual mushrooms without damage, thus offering growers a reliable solution to labour shortages.
The Problem
Fresh mushrooms in the UK are the second-largest vegetable category, worth approximately £450m, and growing annually.
Picking fresh mushrooms is labour intensive. They must be harvested by hand as they are very delicate and easily bruised. In the UK alone, approximately 4,500 people are required every day to pick mushrooms. The work is physically demanding in challenging environments.
Labour quality and availability are critical for the productivity and profitability of the industry. It can take up to six months to train a picker. Their skill, knowledge and dexterity determine the productivity of each mushroom bed. Mushroom growers in the UK are facing a serious labour crisis, exacerbated by Brexit and COVID-19, coupled with rising costs. The labour crisis is not just restricted to the UK; it is also a major issue across the EU and USA.
Our Solution
Our patented protected intelligent mushroom harvesting robot can pick whole crops of fresh mushrooms, including challenging dense clusters, without bruising the mushrooms or their adjacent neighbours. It offers significant benefits for mushroom growers by providing a dependable and reliable labour solution, increased productivity and reduced food waste.