Verdant Fungi Farms Business Plan — Appendix D: Risk Register

Detailed risk register scoring likelihood and impact, with mitigations and the pre-committed trigger points adopted as policy.

Appendix D: Risk Register

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Risk

Assessment

Mitigation and residual position

Contamination outbreak

High likelihood, severe impact

Filtered positive-pressure air, one-directional clean-to-dirty workflow, zone-dedicated clothing, thorough cook-out, fly control, and a documented protocol audited monthly

Compost quality or supply failure

Moderate likelihood, severe impact

Two Phase III suppliers qualified before construction; delivery specification with moisture, nitrogen and spawn-run parameters; supply agreement rather than spot purchase

Yield below assumption

High likelihood in early crops

Imported technical advisory through the first two years; crop records by room and cycle; yield reviewed against benchmark after every crop

Climate control or power failure

High likelihood over five years, severe impact

Solar with battery and standby generation sized for climate plant; a failure of several hours in a fruiting room loses the crop, not the day

Oyster market saturation

High likelihood by Year 4

Chef and specialist retail programme from Year 2; value-added lines such as dried and ready-to-cook formats; substitution of capacity toward button if demand does not develop

Perishability and unsold stock

Certain, moderate impact

Contracted offtake before capacity; cold chain from harvest; 5.5% provision for unsold product; second-grade channel for downgraded product

Price pressure from scale producers

Moderate likelihood, high impact

Do not compete on button price alone; consistency, food safety certification and reliable weekly volume are the retail argument

Skills scarcity

High likelihood

Documented protocols rather than reliance on individuals; deliberate training programme; SAMFA membership for technical access

D.1 Pre-committed trigger points

Point

Trigger

Committed response

Month 7

Two Phase III compost suppliers not contracted

Do not commission the first rooms. A farm without qualified compost has climate-controlled buildings and nothing to fill them with

Month 12

Contamination above 20% or no offtake agreement signed

Halt the fourth room. A crop that has no buyer is worthless five days after harvest

End of Year 2

Contamination above 12%

Do not commission the final two rooms. Adding capacity at high contamination multiplies the loss rather than the output

Any crop

Yield below 18 kg per square metre after Year 2

Escalate to the technical adviser immediately. Yield is the largest single lever in the model

Any crop cycle

Days from cook-out to next fill above 12

Review turnaround discipline. Crops per room is worth more than any yield gain available from better compost

Year 4

Oyster demand not growing ahead of supply

Do not add oyster capacity. Market depth is a downside risk, not an upside opportunity