Sales of exotic mushrooms are currently facing challenges, according to Koert Pleunis of Pleunis Mushrooms, a grower of exotic varieties such as shiitake, eryngii, and maitake. "The week before Easter, sales were already underperforming, but after Easter, sales collapsed entirely, particularly for eryngii (royal oyster mushroom)."
The Stramproy-based grower attributes the decline to the late timing of Easter. "When Easter falls in early April, the weather is usually more favorable for mushroom sales, and the asparagus supply is not yet overwhelming. Additionally, domestic and international holidays are not so close together," Koert explains. "At the beginning of the year, production was still somewhat disappointing. Now, the substrate is performing well, and we have high yields, but this also means we quickly face a market surplus."
Pleunis Mushrooms primarily supplies exotic mushrooms to wholesalers and, to a lesser extent, retailers. "But we are now seeing that consumers are being more cautious with their spending. Exotic mushrooms remain a relatively expensive product category in supermarkets. Sales are currently stagnating in Germany, while in the UK, they are performing surprisingly well."
Despite current challenges, Koert remains optimistic about the long-term outlook for the mushroom business. He has recently rented additional growing rooms from another producer to cultivate grey oyster mushrooms. "Our entire production is organic. Some customers sell the mushrooms as conventional, but the majority are sold as organic," Koert notes.
A relatively new market Pleunis has entered is the supplement sector, selling Pom Pom Blanc, also known as lion's mane. "That market is expanding significantly. We have invested in a drying, cutting, and powdering machine to serve this market, which we also use for maitake. I still see growth potential for fresh exotic mushrooms, but it remains an unstable market. However, I believe we can achieve substantial volume growth in the supplement market."
Koert now has two years of experience in drying and vacuum-packaging mushrooms, which are in high demand for their health benefits. From one kilogram of fresh mushrooms, approximately 100 grams of dried product remain. "We used to produce around 20-30 kilograms of fresh Pom Pom Blanc per week, but this has now increased to 200-300 kilograms per week, of which we dry about 80% for the supplement market."
For more information:
Koert Pleunis
Pleunis Mushrooms
Lochtstraat 8
6039 RV Stramproy
Tel: +31 (0)6 54 255 406
[email protected]
www.pleunismushrooms.nl