Mushrooms are a delicious way to add flavor and a meaty texture to dishes. Did you know that some mushrooms are such a star ingredient that chefs are willing to pay $20 or more per pound? Searching for these prized wild mushroom varieties can be a profitable treasure hunt. You can turn your mushroom-foraging hobby into a side hustle. Here’s how to sell mushrooms on Airmart.
Many farms and producers on Airmart sell specialty, hard-to-find produce like yumberries, Kyoho grapes, and honey peaches.
Types of edible mushrooms
Many species of mushrooms are poisonous, so be sure you are gathering edible mushrooms only.
Here are some types of edible mushrooms:
- oyster
- shiitake
- cremini
- button
- portobello
- chanterelle
- Chicken of the Woods
- Hen of the Woods (maitake)
- King Bolete (porcini)
- lion’s mane
- puffball
- morel
- enoki (snow puff)
You’ll find varieties like button, portobello, shiitake, and cremini mushrooms in your local grocery store. Others are wild mushrooms that can be difficult or sometimes impossible to cultivate. Selling wild mushrooms like morels and chanterelles, which are rare and have a short growing season, will make your business a valuable supplier to home chefs, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Sell mushrooms online
Start selling mushrooms with an online shop. Airmart’s store platform is free and easy to navigate. All you need to set up a shop are product photos, a store name, and a fulfillment method (pickup, delivery, and/or shipping).
Airmart’s handy AI writing tool can help you brainstorm unique mushroom store names, product descriptions, marketing copy, and more for your shop.
Pricing mushrooms
Mushroom prices depend on their availability. Here are the retail price ranges for wild mushrooms:
Porcini: $35 per pound and up
Chanterelles: $30 per pound and up
Chicken of the Woods: $20-$40
Morels: $20 per pound and up
Hen of the Woods $16-$30 per pound
Lion’s Mane: $10-$30 per pound
Puffball: $10-$25 per pound
Enoki: $6 per 3.5 oz package
Packaging mushrooms
Mushrooms have a high water content, so it’s best to package them in paper. Plastic bags will trap the moisture inside and allow bacteria to grow. Place fresh mushrooms in a paper bag, and then place that bag into a cardboard shipping box with holes in the sides (these holes allow the mushrooms to “breathe”). Add paper as cushioning to prevent the mushrooms from being tossed around during shipping.
Mushroom pre-orders
Since the most sought-after mushrooms have the shortest growing seasons, consider taking pre-orders for them. You may have to estimate your inventory, but you can easily update it in your Airmart shop. This is a great way to keep your shop busy with orders all year long.
Livestreaming mushroom sales
Airmart vendors have found great success selling items with limited quantities over the Airmart livestream. Livestreaming or live selling helps build hype around an item and encourages customers to buy instantly. For every seasonal mushroom, you can host a livestream mushroom ‘drop’ where you reveal the mushroom variety on live video and allow viewers to purchase directly from the stream. Airmart vendors who use this technique sometimes sell out within minutes.
How to sell mushrooms to grocery stores
You can sell mushrooms to grocery stores or restaurants without any permits. Depending on the buyer, you may be asked to show proof of completion for a food safety training course like this one.
How to sell mushrooms wholesale
If you plan to sell mushrooms wholesale, you will need a business license. Licensing requirements vary from city to city.
You can sell mushrooms wholesale through Airmart’s reseller network.
How to sell mushrooms to restaurants
As with grocery stores, you do not need a permit to sell mushrooms to restaurants, but you will want to be certified in safe produce handling.
Mushroom delivery
Mushrooms are highly perishable, so you want to sell them as soon as possible. Airmart’s delivery service can bring your fresh mushrooms to customers, stores, and restaurants around the San Francisco Bay Area.
If you or your customers are located outside the Bay Area, you can use the DoorDash and/or shipping integrations on the Airmart platform.