Last year, with pandemic shopping at its fullest, mushrooms were among the top three best-performing foods in the produce aisle in terms of year-over-year sales.
“We have seen this momentum continue into 2021 as pandemic shopping eased,” said Eric Davis, Mushroom Council spokesman. “Now, with foodservice coming back in nearly full force, we are seeing that momentum return as operators work to meet consumer demand.”
Meeting that demand is challenging because of industrywide labor and material shortages and rising costs.
Domestic mushroom shipments are down almost 4% for the year to date, according to the council’s July 2021 shipping report.
Domestic fresh mushroom volume in 2021 through March was almost 194 million pounds, down from 2020’s almost 202 million pounds and 2019’s estimated 204.5 million pounds.
Pennsylvania shipments dropped almost 4% year-to-date in 2021 compared to 2020, while California’s shipments dropped almost 11%, according to the council’s monthly shipping reports.
Pietro Industries, Kennett Square, Pa., expects less supply of top-quality mushrooms, said Chris Alonzo, president and owner.
“Labor is 20% down, so we can't harvest all the mushrooms at the correct time,” he said.
Even though demand remains strong, many farms have reduced production due to lack of labor, Alonzo said. Pietro Industries added more retail customers to fill the gap caused by the lack of foodservice business during the pandemic.
Toughkenamon, Pa.-based First Generation Farms should be able to produce the same volume of mushrooms as in 2020, said Sonya Beltran, director of operations. She expects higher demand this fall season than in fall 2020.
Even though the labor shortage is affecting yield, Ostrom Mushroom Farms, Sunnyside, Wash., should have the same supply as this time last year, said Fletcher Street, director of marketing and sales. She expects the same demand too, although a little less retail and more from restaurants — “unless there are new masking mandates,” Street said.
Ostrom also added more retail customers to make up for the loss of foodservice business, a strategy that’s continuing today.
Others said they expect demand to remain consistent with how it was in 2020, such as Sean Steller, director of business development at Phillips Mushroom Farms, Kennett Square, Pa.
Still, Phillips plans to open a new growing facility in Pennsylvania before the end of 2021.
“This new facility will increase production of high-quality mushrooms and allow us to meet the growing demand for fresh mushrooms,” Steller said.
Portabellas have been a star variety.
“Their meaty qualities satisfy consumer demand for meaty but minimally processed, plant-forward foods,” Davis said.
Quick-service restaurants have been swapping out meat for portabellas on their menus, he said. For example: Jersey Mike’s newest portabella and swiss sub, Starbucks’ kale and portabella egg bites and Shake Shack’s portabella sandwich.
The council will unveil a new promotion in September, National Mushroom Month, that celebrates the people and organizations that have made mushrooms such a trendy food nationwide.
Value of sales for the 2019-20 U.S. mushroom crop was $1.15 billion, up 3% from the previous season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The average reported price was $1.41 per pound, up 7 cents from the previous year.
Pennsylvania accounted for 66% of the total volume of agaricus sales and second-ranked California contributed 14%.
The next annual USDA report should come out in late August or early September, Davis said.