"Exotic wild mushrooms' relatively small market share is growing and should keep doing so by double digits," says Alex Vos, Sales Manager at Banken Champignons, describing how things stand with these mushrooms. As a matter of fact, he foresees the entire mushroom market expanding. Alex expects the share of white and chestnut mushrooms to stabilize, with exotic mushrooms realizing the growth.
Eryngii
A growing awareness of sustainability and the search for meat alternatives is what is driving exotic wild mushrooms' increasing popularity among consumers. Mushrooms' sustainability - they have a low carbon footprint compared to meat - and the unique flavors and textures of exotic varieties, such as shiitake and oyster mushrooms, play a major role in this trend.
Oyster mushroom
Banken, a Dutch company, is betting on product development to keep up with this market development. The company recently, for example, marketed lengthwise sliced Eryngii mushrooms in a package with pesto and herbs under the name duinvoetjes steak. "That name directly implies its use to people. If you had to, say, offer the mushrooms whole, as they're grown, in supermarkets, shoppers wouldn't really know what to do with the product. We're trying to bring exotic mushrooms slightly more to consumers' attention by, for instance, showing its uses, thus lowering the threshold for people," Alex explains.
Wide range of flavors
Lion's Mane is another exotic wild mushroom he sees growing in popularity. "It somewhat resembles a sponge. When compressed, fried, and sliced like a steak, this mushroom is almost indistinguishable from meat. These kinds of mushrooms are genuinely on the rise. Also, we love seeing our customers and consumers increasingly discovering the relatively unknown exotic wild mushrooms. They're very excited about the wide range of flavors. That's the journey of discovery currently happening in the exotic mushroom market," says Vos.
Shiitake
The growing focus on exotic wild mushrooms also means Banken is increasingly cultivating these instead of importing them from Asia. "It's a good market, with clients asking about food safety and sustainability. Those were actually the triggers to grow more and more exotic mushrooms ourselves. Sustainability-wise, you have the advantage of locally grown product; you don't have to get it from far away."
White beech fungus
"And, in our case, by cultivating our own, we could switch to organic mushrooms. Generally, when growing mushrooms, you use no or minimal crop protection. The substrate determines the difference between organic and conventional. We've made great strides recently regarding organic substrate. So, we cultivate organic exotic wild mushrooms locally. That ticks plenty of boxes at once," Alex concludes. (MW)
Alex Vos
[email protected]
Banken Champignons
+31 24 3667 444
[email protected]
www.bankenchampignons.com