Good day,
Attached is a press release from the city of St. Ingbert with a request for publication.
Noble mushrooms at the St. Ingbert weekly market
Fifth taste, that is the name of the company run by Maximilian Wagner from Saarbrücken. Together with his parents, the 26-year-old cultivates gourmet mushrooms in his own bunker and sells them, among other places, at a stall at the St. Ingbert weekly market.
At the weekly market in St. Ingbert, mother Sandra Wagner offers not only high-quality and carefully selected gourmet mushrooms, but also shares a lot about mushroom cultivation and umami, the "fifth taste."Fifth Taste is a prime example of regional, fresh, and healthy organic products that can be found at the weekly market in St. Ingbert on Saturdays and are produced in a bunker in Saarbrücken.
Air-raid shelter becomes mushroom growing facility
An own bunker? "A standard bunker of the highest standards was built on the property of my great-grandfather in Saarbrücken during World War II," says father Jörg Wagner. Initially, it was supposed to be upgraded during the Cold War, but then it was forgotten in peacetime and now belongs to the property owner, the Wagner family. The relic from wartime has a floor area of 110 square meters and remained unused for many years. Until son Maximilian Wagner came up with the idea during his e-commerce studies to cultivate mushrooms in the bunker.
“Temperature and humidity are nearly stable, ideal conditions for mushroom cultivation,” explains Jörg Wagner.
The son's idea was professionalized with measuring devices and cold storage rooms in the restored bunker and is now a family business. In the first year alone, the Wagners produced 2.4 tons of gourmet mushrooms, which grow in the bunker virtually under laboratory conditions
and are completely clean. Initially, it was only king oyster and shiitake mushrooms; the range has now been expanded to include oyster and pink oyster mushrooms as well as the curly and very tasty pom pom blanc, also known as the hedgehog mushroom.
Umami and Waste-Free Production
The production follows a closed loop: the substrate blocks on which the mushrooms grow are either passed on to other cultivators or invertebrate breeders or processed into humus. Unsold mushrooms are further processed into dried mushrooms, spices, pasta, or pesto, among other things. Therefore, there is no waste in the organic-certified company.
Fünfter Geschmack can be found at the weekly market in St. Ingbert on Saturdays. More information at https://fuenftergeschmack.com/
Photo provided by Fünfter Geschmack
Photo: Martina Panzer
Caption: At the weekly market, Sandra Wagner not only offers high-quality and carefully selected gourmet mushrooms, but also shares a lot about mushroom cultivation alongside preparation tips.
