Mushroom sales are still good in the UK, they have dropped from the dizzy heights they saw during Covid when everyone was at home and cooking from scratch, but there is still a 3% growth in the category.
"The whole meat replacement sector has slowed, but residual growth is still there. People are still cutting out meat and replacing it with mushrooms," said James Meers, Commercial Director at G's Fresh. "The 3% growth in category is still impressive, people have gone back to the office and are cooking less from scratch but recognise the health benefits of eating mushrooms. They are now adding them to dishes where they wouldn't have before. It is a very positive place to be."
National Trust ban on mushrooms
The National Trust recently banned mushrooms from their menus due to the environmental impact of the peat which is used for growing them. While James understands their reasons for doing this, he said that viable alternatives are not yet available to mushroom growers.
"As an industry, we have done a lot of research, but it remains a massive challenge for growers. Peat is critical to mushroom production, but we are around 3–4 years away from a viable alternative. We can grow mushrooms using alternatives, but yields would drop by 50%. It will have to be replaced, but we have to be realistic, we could have a substitute in a couple of years, but it would mean an increase in costs. The removal has to be done in a structured way, involving the whole industry worldwide.
Flow wrap packs
Back in 2021, FreshPlaza spoke to James about what he believed to be 'the biggest innovation in mushroom packing for 50 years', mushrooms had always been sold in the blue punnets with cling film stretched over the top, not only was this bad for shelf life, consumers would get home to find half of the mushroom lying around in the bottom of their shopping bags!. G's Fresh launched a flow wrap pack which kept the mushrooms in the punnet and also allowed the mushroom to 'breathe'.
"These flow wrap packs are now in every retailer in the UK, they allow for better in-store presentation and really tick all the boxes, it is a massive positive with no compromises and opens up the conversation of 'what's next?'
For more information:
James Meers
G's Fresh
Tel: +44 7584 516511
[email protected]
www.gs-fresh.com