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Functional mushroom products flourish in the US

From lion’s mane to reishi, functional mushroom supplements and fortified food and drink products are gaining in popularity among young US consumers, according to Nutrition Business Journal data.

Mushrooms’ popularity bloomed during the pandemic like fruiting bodies after a rainstorm. Four years later, that flush shows no signs of stopping, as functional fungi sprout social media cred for helping with a growing number of trending conditions, including digestive health, mood and mental health, sports performance, healthy ageing, and, of course, immunity. (Next step: science to back up the claims attached to those hashtags.)

According to the recently released Nutrition Business Journal Mushroom Market Report, more than a quarter of US consumers take functional mushroom supplements, and 37% eat or drink functional food and beverages made from functional mushrooms. Driven largely by younger consumers, mushroom supplement sales have more than tripled since 2019, and NBJ projects they will continue to grow at a steady clip for the next several years.

With protein shakes and beverages leading the way, US sales of mushroom-enhanced functional food and beverage were more than $700 million in 2023—over three times those of supplements.

The Mushroom Market Report takes a look at the conditions where mushrooms are popping up as popular treatments, through both NBJ’s market sizing model and consumer survey data. The vast majority of consumers are turning to functional mushrooms to boost their immunity, with reishi and lion’s mane getting a lot of attention.

Lion’s mane is also leading the pride when it comes to treating mood and mental health issues, a category expected to see strong growth for the next several years.

No report about the mushroom market would be complete without a good look at psilocybin, a key driver of popular interest in mushrooms since researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research started studying magic mushrooms as a treatment for a range of psychiatric and behavioural disorders, from treatment-resistant depression to substance abuse.

Psilocybin is now a multibillion-dollar industry—even as the DEA continues to classify it as a Schedule 1 drug—and the Mushroom Market Report includes some fascinating insights and longitudinal survey data spotlighting how and why consumers are using it.

See more mushroom market data and insights in the new Nutrition Business Journal Mushroom Market Report.