Cidermaker Bulmers are ready to move into the mushroom game – by growing exotic fungi in apple tree prunings.

The Hereford-based firm, known to drinkers as the makers of Strongbow and Woodpecker, is diversifying into shittake and oyster mushrooms, both of which are wood growing breeds.

The waste not want not policy will provide a use for the 1,500 tonnes of apple wood generated each year when the company prunes the trees each winter.

In order to grow the delicacies, the prunings will be chipped rather than incinerated as they are at present.

Belgrade University's Professor Ivanka Milenkovic is researching the details for the plan, and Bulmers are set to seek commercial partners if the horticulture expert declares the move viable.

Looking forward to making something out of nothing, Bulmers sustainable development manager Richard Heathcote said: 'Using waste prunings to grow mushrooms is a classic example of how sustainability can work to our advantage.'

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