KANSAS CITY — Consumers tend to classify mushrooms as plants. After all, the fresh ones are sold in the retail produce department, and the canned ones are shelved near the other tinned vegetables. Mushrooms, however, are not part of the plant kingdom; they are fungi — a distinct classification of life. They also are finally attracting the attention they deserve in food and beverage product development.

“Mushrooms have long served as utility players across kitchens and apothecaries, with individual varieties carving out their own niches, from hearty meat alternatives and umami-laden flavor enhancers to nootropic ingredients in supplements and coffee alternatives,” said Jon Copeland, research manager for MarketPlace, St. Louis. “The mushroom multiverse is expected to expand as consumers tune into the distinct benefits of each variety. Along with recognized sensory and functional benefits, we anticipate the mushroom trend will be further bolstered by consumers’ environmental aspirations.”

That’s because mushrooms are “one of the most sustainably produced foods in the United States,” according to a fresh mushroom sustainability study conducted by researchers at the University of California-Davis. Mushrooms have a unique growing process and may be grown in the absence of sunlight in a climate-controlled environment. They also use significantly less water and energy to grow than other crops and livestock, and they may be produced vertically stacked in growing facilities, allowing a high volume of mushrooms to be grown in a relatively small space.

Most supermarkets carry several fresh mushroom varieties, with some of the more common being button, cremini, porcini, portobello and shiitake. The same mushrooms are available as industrial ingredients and are being used as a partial replacement for beef in some blended burger applications.

The Mushroom Angel Co., Detroit, for example, makes mushrooms the star of its vegan patties and ground offerings. When fully cooked, the products cut and bite like beef but without any animal meat, according to the company.

Not all parts of fresh mushrooms make it into the food supply. Chinova Bioworks, Fredericton, New Brunswick, has found an outlet for the stems of white button mushrooms. The company upcycles them into a natural preservative that may be added to some applications. The ingredient is believed to confer broad-spectrum pharmacological protection and is effective at inhibiting growth of bacteria, yeast and mold.

“We work with mushroom farmers to harvest the wasted stems and upcycle them into a commercially viable ingredient,” said Natasha Dhayagude, co-founder and chief executive officer. “The process is similar to how most plant fibers are naturally extracted. It involves drying the mushrooms, grinding them and then using heat and water to purify the fiber from the stems. The minimal and eco-friendly processing helps deliver a natural mushroom fiber that improves the finished product’s quality, freshness and shelf life.”

Scelta Mushrooms, Venlo, The Netherlands, produces a fat replacement ingredient using white button mushrooms. The fibrous nature of mushrooms gives texture and balances juiciness and tenderness, while the umami components mask off tastes and enhance meaty and savory notes. The ingredient is about 15% fat, primarily unsaturated, making it a tool to improve the nutritional value of foods.

A healthy perception

There’s also a growing category of mushrooms being referred to as “super mushrooms,” which are perceived as having specific health benefits and adaptogens.

Adaptogens are a term that refers to compounds that may help the body fight the effects of stress and promote balance in physiological function.

It’s not the fungi, per se, that is believed to deliver the health benefits. Rather, it’s the beta-glucan fibers located in the mushroom’s cellular walls. The consumption of lion’s mane mushrooms, for example, is associated with supporting brain function, memory and mood. Chaga, maitake and reishi are some of the other more familiar varieties believed to have functional benefits.

“Mushroom adaptogens are gaining popularity,” said Jennifer Barney, a startup consultant based in Turlock, Calif. “They are coming in the form of everyday habits, such as coffee.”

Peak State Coffee, Boulder, Colo., processes whole bean coffee infused with organic extracts of full-spectrum adaptogenic functional mushrooms. The “coffee with benefits” brand comes in three functional varieties, which vary in the mushroom extract profile. The immunity boost option is a brew featuring a blend of reishi, cordyceps, lion’s mane, turkey tail and chaga mushrooms. Brain sustain brings the benefits of lion’s mane for cognition and cordyceps for energy support. The Stress Less dark roast variety has less caffeine than a light or medium roast, and reishi mushroom to reduce sensations of jitteriness throughout the day.

The crowd-sourced review platform Yelp sees the use of mushrooms as functional ingredients reaching foodservice in 2025. Seattle’s Wunderground Coffee infuses mushrooms into its coffee blends, and Press Coffee, Phoenix, has expanded its menu to include mushroom-infused shakes as an alternative to traditional coffee drinks.

Searches on Yelp for mushroom drinks were up 501% in 2024 over 2023, according to the platform, searches for mushroom coffee were up 87%, and searches for mushroom tea were up 10%.

Mushroom coffee brand Four Sigmatic, Santa Monica, Calif., is now in the functional mushroom instant tea sector. Each formula is made with mushroom extracts, including lion’s mane, chaga, turkey tail and reishi plus botanicals and other functional ingredients, such as L-theanine, lemon balm, elderberry and probiotics.

“Before launching our coffee line in the US, we actually started in 2012 by selling mushroom elixirs in Europe that people often called teas,” said Tero Isokauppila, founder of Four Sigmatic. “So, this new innovation is also a return to our roots.”

Little Saints LLC, Chicago, uses lion’s mane to produce St. Juniper, an alcohol-free gin alternative. The inclusion of juniper, birch, angelica root and cardamom extracts creates a familiar gin-like taste, nose and finish, according to the company.

Functional mushrooms are not limited to beverage applications. Farmingdale, NY-based Scott’s Protein Balls has a new functional line intended to enhance energy and focus. They are formulated with lion’s mane, cordyceps and reishi mushroom extracts.

While mushrooms grow above ground, what grows in the soil also is of nutritional value to humans. Much like how plants have roots, mushrooms have mycelia, which serve as a substrate in fermentation to create nutrient-dense ingredients that may be used alone or with mushroom parts.

All the fungi components are predicted to create disruption in the plant-based and flexitarian movement. Mush Foods, New York, developed a 50CUT ingredient, which is a mushroom blend to be mixed with ground meat so chefs can reduce the amount of meat needed in a formulation by half.

Boulder, Colo.-based Meati Foods developed the Eat Meati line of proteins made from mycelium, the No. 1 ingredient. The products have comparable complete protein to meat with more fiber and no cholesterol, according to the company. They come in breaded chicken-style classic and crispy cutlets, classic steak-style filet and carne asada steak-style filet.

Meati has distanced itself from an ever-crowded category through its composition of at least 95% mycelium, said Tyler Huggins, co-founder and CEO. One serving of the whole-cut meats deliver as much as 17 grams of complete protein and 12 grams of dietary fiber, along with micronutrients such as 45% and 90% of the recommended daily intakes of zinc and vitamin B12.

Not all shrooms are created equal

With mushroom ingredients being an emerging market, there’s little — if any — regulation in place. Product developers need to do their own research before choosing how they source mushroom and mycelia ingredients, according to speakers at a SupplySide West session this past October in Las Vegas.

Julie Daoust, chief science officer, M2 Ingredients, Vista, Calif., gave examples of questions manufacturers should ask. Have tests been done to ascertain the identity of the mushrooms? What elements are in the mushroom ingredients? Have the ingredients been spray-dried? The mushrooms were grown on what substrate? Where were the mushrooms grown?

“You don’t have to know the answers to all those questions, but you need to be comfortable that they are answering you with confidence and also with documentation,” said Roy Upton, president of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, Scotts Valley, Calif. “It’s a tiny market that we have here (in North America). The world market is huge.”