Smithy Mushrooms from Lancashire says its business has nearly trebled in size over the last three years. Oyster mushrooms in particular are selling like hot cakes, with one million packs sold by the firm in 2022. Now, the company is about to open a new production site in the autumn, hoping to increase its growing capacity for shiitake and oyster mushrooms.
According to Managing director John Dorrian, the demand is currently so high he has had to turn away new business because they cannot produce enough. “The plant-based food boom has been the best thing that’s ever happened to our business and suddenly exotic varieties like oyster and shiitake mushrooms, which just five years ago I was struggling to sell, have become super trendy.”
“And since the Covid pandemic there has also been increasing interest in the nutritional qualities of mushrooms, which is now putting very unconventional varieties such as lion’s mane on the foodie map. We are already seeing other little-known varieties such as shimeji and eryngii being sold in supermarkets and we believe it’s an industry that is truly going to mushroom in the next few years.”
Source: messengernewspapers.co.uk