Health Benefits Beyond Basic Nutrition Thrusts Organic Specialty Fungi Demand

Long gone are the days when the white button mushroom dominated the mushroom category. After years of  “exotic” varieties found only in natural foods stores--- specialty mushrooms----now revered for their medicinal properties as much as their culinary prowess, have gone mainstream and consumer demand has exploded.

According to the Mushroom Council’s 2017 Mushroom Tracking Highlight report, organic mushroom sales are up 13.5 percent from last year, and although organic mushrooms make up only about 11 percent of total category sales, they drove 25 percent of all category gains for 2017.  Retailers have responded by devoting more shelf space to organic specialty mushrooms.

Mushrooms have been used in sustaining human health for thousands of years and the commercialization of these “exotic” varietals allow consumers to cook for optimal health.   While organic shiitake used to be the only specialty mushroom available, today there is an abundance of organic varietals including Trumpet, Forest Nameko, Nebrodini Bianco, Velvet Pioppini and Maitakes.

Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. is one of a handful of California’s original mushroom explorers and developers of “exotic or specialty varietal” mushrooms, originally chosen for their medicinal values. Gourmet Mushrooms was the first company to commercialize the shiitake, which today, has the largest global market share of any mushroom and is celebrated for its medicinal properties.  Today the firm offers seven organic specialty varietals under their Mycopia brand. 

The company specializes in both fresh and nutraceutical (medicinal) mushroom products and since 2005 has been 100 percent certified organic. Gourmet Mushrooms has two main production locations-----the 43,000 square foot flagship location in Sebastopol, CA and a newer state of the art location in Scottsville, MI that sits on 79 acres and spans more than 200,000 square feet.

Variety of organic specialty mushrooms is the main trend to expect for 2018.   Each varietal not only offers diversity of flavor and texture, but also offers consumers a divergent assortment of medicinal properties. Organic oyster mushrooms, for example, have high iron and zinc content; shiitakes maintain immune boosting and anti-viral attributes and organic Maitake mushrooms possess anti-cancer properties.

The Maitake variety, known as “hen of the woods”, is currently the fast growing organic varietal. Praised as one of the best tasting mushrooms in cultivation, the Maitake is considered to have powerful medicinal properties.

According to Justin Reyes, manager of sales and marketing for Gourmet Mushrooms, the Maitake is predicted to be the consumer favorite for 2018, reflective of its potent umami flavor, extreme versatile and ease of preparation.

Gourmet Mushrooms is now offering their Mycopia brand Maitake’s in a larger, 8 ounce pack size, as well as a 16 ounce pack size of the company’s Chef’s Sampler.