How Much Does a Mushroom Cold Room Cost for a Commercial Growing Facility? (Capacity, Price & ROI)

Mushrooms—like oyster, shiitake, enoki, and button—are highly perishable. Without rapid cooling, they lose weight, darken, and spoil within 24–48 hours after harvest. For commercial growers, that means lost revenue, rejected shipments, and wasted substrate.

But with proper cold infrastructure, you can:
✔️ Extend shelf life to 15–20 days
✔️ Maintain white caps and firm stems for supermarket contracts
✔️ Ship by sea (not air) to GCC or EU markets

So how much does it really cost—and how much can you store?

📦 Storage Capacity: What Can You Actually Store?

💡 Most mushroom farms use cold rooms not for long-term storage—but as a critical post-harvest buffer before packing and dispatch.

💰 Total Investment: What You Actually Pay

A turnkey mushroom cold room (100m², 0–2°C, 90–95% RH) typically costs:

24,000– 28,000 USD

Key System Features:

• Temperature: 0–2°C (slows respiration without freezing delicate tissue)
• Humidity: 90–95% RH (prevents cap cracking and weight loss)
• Insulation: 100–120mm PU panels (food-grade, smooth finish for easy cleaning)
• Airflow: Low-velocity circulation (high speed damages gills)
• Pre-cooling Zone: Optional forced-air tunnel for rapid field heat removal (<2 hrs)
• Monitoring: Cloud-based system with SMS alerts

⚠️ Never store mushrooms below 0°C—ice crystals destroy cell structure, causing mushiness and browning.

🌍 Real-World Insight

A commercial oyster mushroom farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand built a 100m² cold room to support daily output of 1.2 tons:

• Total Investment: $ 25,000 USD
• Capacity: Holds 3 days of harvest (≈3.6 tons)
• Result:
  • Reduced spoilage from 18% → 3%
  • Secured weekly supply contract with Central Group supermarkets
  • Enabled trial exports to Qatar and UAE (via sea freight)
  • Achieved ROI in 8 months

“Before cold storage, we threw away unsold mushrooms every evening. Now, we plan sales—not waste.”
— Founder, Northern Fungi Co., Thailand