Buona Foods looking forward to celebrating National Mushroom Month

Buona Foods is a fourth-generation, family owned and operated mushroom farm located in the Mushroom Capital of the World. Buona Foods began growing mushroom in 1975, selling them to local restaurants. Over time, the focus shifted to supplying retailers in the region.

“We produce a full line of fresh, dried and value-added mushrooms in both retail and foodservice packages,” said Chris Johansen, sales and account manager for the Landenberg, PA-based company. “Many of our customers have been with us since the early ’80s. We have watched them grow as we have grown right alongside them. The mushroom category has grown, too, from a few SKUs of white and brown mushrooms to a full line including exotics, dried wild mushrooms, and our fantastic Mushroom Gourmet Crumble.”

Mushrooms are in-season 365 days a year and Buona Foods has increased its production over the past couple of years to better serve both existing customers and new business.

“Crops are heavily pressured by heat, pests and input quality from mid-summer into the fall every year, so the mushroom supply gets tight as we do our best to ship only the best mushrooms we can harvest,” Johansen said. “We take great care to package them properly, build the orders accurately, and ship them safely and in a timely manner, all while maintaining the cold chain to ensure our products are at peak freshness.”

The key to continued growth of mushrooms is education and informing consumers about the different varieties of mushrooms, convincing them to try new types, point-of-sale signage, web features, and informational pieces in weekly circulars.

Buona Foods recommends retailers include mushrooms in promotions such as meal kits or multi-SKU package deals, and cross-merchandise or cross-sell with complimentary products to make those culinary connections for the consumer. And this goes for all varieties of mushrooms.

“White mushrooms have always been the top sellers, and that trend won’t change any time soon, but baby bella and portabella mushrooms have increased in market share,” Johansen said. “Exotic mushrooms such as shiitake, oyster, and king oyster are the rising stars of the industry as people learn more about them, from their unique flavors and textures to their nutritional value, to inventive new ways to use them as meat alternatives.”

He also suggests that all products are clearly marked with shelf tags, and even though this may seem like a no-brainer, every store loses shelf tags, misses an update, or has products stocked behind the wrong sticker.

“Rotate stock, check those dates, pull suspect product,” Johansen said. “From a promotion standpoint, don’t get in a rut, running ads on the same items all year long. Your standard 8-ounce packages of white and brown mushrooms don’t need as much help with sales; mix it up and include promotions on portabellas, exotics and value-added products. The ring is higher, the margins are better, and you will find that you sell the same customer the white mushrooms that they came in for plus a different variety that’s on sale.”

In the post-pandemic world, the mushroom industry has been faced with the same challenges as most everyone. Costs of fuel, labor, packaging and farming inputs all saw multiple increases in price. A recession resulted in consumers watching their purchases and focusing on necessities.

“Those that are frequent mushroom users have continued to purchase them, but some occasional consumers have cut them out of their shopping routine in order to save money,” Johansen said.

The company is looking forward to celebrating National Mushroom Month and will be part of the 2023 Kennett Square Mushroom Festival on Sept. 9 and 10.

“People can come to the Mushroom Capital of the World to see how mushrooms are grown, watch cooking demos, shop craft and specialty vendors, and eat mushrooms in more forms than you knew existed,” Johansen said.

“Buona Foods not only sells our famous Fried Breaded Mushrooms and other tasty snacks, we also host the amateur mushroom eating contest, an event that needs to be seen to be believed.”