We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oscar Ortega a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Oscar, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Myceli Unlimiti started as a hobby, the original name was AK Koji Trade and Co., The concept and idea started with a heavy culinary background into culinary mycelium and microbes which then started to break off into various types of mycelium and microbes not limited to just culinary applications. This business idea was tested at a restaurant in Juneau, Alaska and later developed into Myceli Unlimiti in Colorado. Myceli Unlimiti is some what of a mouthful but I like to pronounce the ending as if I were saying Illuminati – with the ending pronunciation being ( ee ). I get some interesting pronunciations from customers and it’s a fun comical ice breaker, it really doesn’t matter to me. The name is also a play off Mycelium Unlimited because I believe that mycelium is truly only limited by the imagination of how we are inspired by it or venture into applying it. We started by mainly using a culinary mycelium called Koji or Aspergillus Oryzae, that is traditionally used to ferment food. It’s really one of those endless rabbit hole but to put it in a nutshell, it is the main ingredient in culinary staples such as miso, soy sauces, shoyu, and sake. When Myceli Unlimiti relocated to Colorado from Alaska we ventured into fruiting mycelium also known as mushroom fruiting bodies. Our goal is to provide education, tools, services, and finished products the revolve around mycelium and microbes ultimately pioneering the idea of sustainability.
Myceli Unlimiti last year expanded into MU Gateway Genetics, child business. Which processes most of the mycelium mycology products that included products and services like potency testing, borosilicate agar plunges, handmade and 3D printed induction coils, and other mycology supplies. Take a look at the platforms and website for more information or contact us directly with the information on the media platforms and website. Stay cosmic!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am Oscar Ortega, born in Mexico. First generational immigrant family, raised in California, San Diego area. I went to culinary school but was already working in the industry. I pushed myself to travel to new locations and work in the culinary industry at each new location I found myself in. With over 17 years of culinary experience, I honestly feel that the real cooking started with venturing into ferments and microbes. We mainly work with Koji culinary mycelium and fruiting mycelium products and services.
Cooking at professional level has become very convenient for most culinary teams. With huge lists of food mecca sellers and providers able to supply just about anything in a very short turn around. Take Colorado as an example, landlocked, yet obtaining sushi grade fish is as easy as shopping online now. Or for example that same restaurant that ordered that Uni or Tuna using ingredients such as soy sauce, shoyu, ponzu, tamari, kombu, dashi, and kimchi; amino condiment substitutes, sakes, and or pickles. I am just naming what would come to mind but those are very common in a sushi location most would never know how make most of these ingredients essential to their business. These common ingredients involve some type of fermentation process, curing, and or preservation technique. For myself diving into the universe of microbes is what truly gave meaning the idea of the word CHEF, ultimately I will always be a student for I can only learn so much in this life time. If you are interested in learning more look up the world famous Noma restaurant, or a book called Koji Alchemy. Be curious and explore the world of mycelium and microbes, you will not be disappointed.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Yes! That is exactly how this turned into a business at first it was being utilized at a restaurant that I was in charge of in Juneau, Alaska. It was something fun that I did on the side on my own time, a hobby. It wasn’t until we located to Colorado that I started to take it more serious, doing simple online searches on how to open a business while posting some finished products on marketplaces like Craigslist and Facebook! Of course it not real until you start answering to responses for potential customers. At that point in Colorado we were also entertaining products for fruiting mycelium with active tryptamines (psilocybin) or magic mushrooms, which at the time was still very ” grey area “, a term we hear less and less. We were basically opening those doors for local customers to research and grow their own plant based medicine in the privacy of their homes. The integration of products that fell between the lines of Prop 122 was pioneering at the time. We were constantly kicked, banned and removed from most platforms. Examples such as Etsy, Square, Facebook, Instagram, and common payment platforms. This year showed huge promise, can just feel the vibes of how those walls are being torn down to have open conversations with others on plant medicine. With plans for professional assisted therapy just around the corner 2025-2026 and we were in the middle of it all! It feels great to be apart of that pioneering timeline.
Honestly! It felt like a HUGE risk at the time but I do not regret. Openly coming out and saying to the world, Yes I have been growing secretly for years come here and let me help you. With the learning curve of being a new business owner and juggling the meaning of ordinances with local, government, and media platforms it was very heavy but I wouldn’t change the experience. We have done various podcasts with Miss Cadabra of ,Smoke to Smoke, a local Colorado podcast and supporter of all things Cannabis and plant medicines. You can find that on Spotify or where ever you like to listen to your favorite podcasts.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
(hahaha)
Okay I do have an interesting story that falls into a close call. I woke up early to complete a huge order list at the time I was running the business out of our apartment in Colorado Springs.. On this day I drank a huge cup of coffee and got to work, I worked through the entire day without breaking. I had an alarm set to remember to make dinner for when my partner got out of school from her accelerating nursing program. Having completely forgotten to eat and plan for dinner I decided to order drop off food from a local business. I was finishing up some sterile lab work with live cultures and had a lab coat, mask, hairnet, goggles – basically the entire PPE set up for sterile work. The door bell rang just as I was about to finish something up. I rush to the door and opened it with some of the PPE gear still on. The individual that was dropping off the food handed me the food and said bye and did a double take on the gear I was wearing and left. Put the food in the kitchen and continued to get ready to finish up with the sterile work.
About 1 hour later the door bell rings, and I go to check the door. Checked the eye hole could not see anyone, which was weird. Cracked open the door and checked again, nothing. I thought maybe something was left one the floor next to the door so I unhooked the door safety latch and opened the door. As I peaked around the corner there were two Colorado Springs police officers with hands ready to pull their weapons. We both looked 100% shocked, I was holding a sandwich in one hand. Immediately greeted the officers and asked how I could help them, They started laugh and asked if everything was okay, I replied that everything was normal and asked why they were there. They proceeded to explain that a local food drop off had reported some ” Walter White situation ” (their exact words) when completing one of their drop offs. For those not familiar with Walter White, look up the show Breaking Bad. We all started to laugh and I came out we started to chat about what my business does and how it was a misunderstanding. Even offered some services and product information they respectfully declined but it did not stop me from handing them my business card with some slaps!
This is another reason why I love Colorado, not just progression and pioneering but also the local cops authorities here have a chill to them you wont see in other states. Moral of the story take off your PPE when answering the door.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://MyceliUnlimiti.Store
- Instagram: @myceliunlimiti
- Facebook: @PandeKid
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7clssfgbsvK3RNXNBYtiFp?si=a5ff92dbd7214581
Image Credits
Bear’s Eye Media