In this fast-paced era, companies look for “hot” ingredients in various ways. Brands seek “kernel ingredients” to break through to the end consumer market. Consumers are also buying into popular ingredients. As a result, popular ingredients such as collagen, probiotics, curcumin, coenzyme Q10, etc., have their corresponding headline products and players in various markets around the world.
In recent years, functional mushroom powder have become a popular ingredient in the global nutrition and health market. Moreover, they have created a “mushroom craze” in some segments, including coffee, beverages, energy bars, snacks, etc.
Rapid Growth Of The Mushroom Market
Mushrooms have been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine and play an important role in the traditional Oriental diet. It is rich in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. It also contains biological components such as beta-glucan, triterpenoids, phenolic compounds, and amide compounds.
Data shows that the global functional mushroom market size reached USD 31.71 billion in 2023. Currently, food and beverage is the major product category for the application of mushroom powder extracts. This type accounted for 41.9% of the market sales in 2023. In addition, dietary supplements are also the major driving category for the market growth. The main reason for this is the growing consumer demand for healthy and nutritious products.
Mushroom dietary supplements are available in various forms, including capsules, tinctures, sprays, gummies, and others. The consumer scenarios involved are segmented, such as immune, gut, cognitive, energy, and stress.
Healthy Food And Beverage Track, Mushroom Powder Explosive Growth
As consumers become more health-conscious, the global demand for food and beverages containing specific healthy ingredients increases, including immunity, digestion, sleep, cognition, etc.
As a high-value-added ingredient, the inclusion of mushrooms powder in food and beverages can make products more competitive in the marketplace and appeal to health-conscious consumers.
Not only do mushrooms have health potential, but they can also provide a unique flavor and texture to food and beverages. The aroma and flavor of mushrooms can be combined with food products such as coffee, chocolate, and tea to create novel taste experiences.
- Mushroom coffee is an emerging “trend” in the European and U.S. markets.
More and more brands are adding mushroom powder ingredients to their coffee recipes to replace some of the caffeine used. The potential of mushrooms for immune, energy, and stress applications also contributes to their popularity in coffee products.
The growing popularity of mushroom coffee goes beyond offering an alternative to traditional coffee. It reflects a broader shift towards a more conscious and deliberate daily habit of blending flavor and health.
Start-up brands largely dominate the current mushroom coffee market. The UK-based ViVo Life brand has launched a mushroom coffee. Its ingredients are relatively simple, containing Ethiopian Arabica coffee and lion’s mane mushroom powder with no artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. The packaging is recyclable.
As one of the hot-selling mushroom coffee products on the Amazon platform, Everyday Dose USA launched this mushroom coffee product, which contains coffee extract, mushroom blend (lion’s mane mushroom and Chaga extract), and specially added collagen and L-Theanine. It opens up a more segmented and multi-scenario application of mushroom coffee. The product is a powder that can be added to water, milk, smoothies, coffee, and other products for mixing.
How to solve the application problem of mushroom powder with coffee?
The popularity of mushroom coffee is also pushing raw material suppliers to solve the problems of mushroom powder application in coffee from the source, including solubility and absorption.
To this end, MCB has launched a mushroom complex extract, UltimateMushroom™, containing ten mushroom types, including Hericium erinaceus, shiitake, and reishi mushroom. The ingredient is spray-dried and fiber-encapsulated for stability, hygroscopicity, and water solubility, and MCB has conducted pilot tests related to its use in coffee formulations. The powder dissolves quickly, providing a good eating experience with corresponding health benefits.
It has also been found that by enzymatically dissolving mushroom cell walls using acidic proteases and cellulases, the cell wall structure can be disrupted, releasing the nutrients in the mushrooms and thus improving their solubility in solutions such as coffee.
Alternatively, extraction conditions, such as solvent type, temperature, time, pH, etc., are adjusted to improve the extraction efficiency and solubility of the target compounds. There is also an embedding technique whereby the mushroom powder q2wextract is embedded using substances such as sodium alginate. It improves its dispersion and solubility in coffee while protecting the active ingredients from being destroyed during digestion.
The use of ultrasound, microwave, and other physical means to assist extraction, adding the right amount of surfactants, micronizing mushroom powder, adjusting the ratio of coffee to mushroom extract and adding additional auxiliary ingredients, using nanotechnology to prize mushroom powder extracts to be prepared into nano-suspension, and so on, are all ways to increase the solubility of mushroom extracts in water.
- Mushrooms become one of the differentiation ideas for beverages, snacks, and soft candies.
Market data released by SPINS shows that the application of mushrooms in VMS and food & beverage has exploded over the past two years in the U.S. Mushroom-related sales amounted to $62.7 million in 2022 and are expected to reach $112.9 million in 2024. It is a CAGR of 34.2% over the past two years.
More and more consumers are talking about mushrooms, and many companies are launching related products to cater to this trend, including beverages, gummies, snacks, nutrition bars, chocolates, and more.
As one of the Top 30 hot-selling nutrition bars on Amazon, Wise Bar launched this nutrition bar in the flavor of turmeric and cinnamon, containing oats, almond butter, orange juice powder, cashew butter, almonds, lion’s mane mushrooms, cinnamon, cashews, Ganoderma lucidum, turmeric, and South African drunken eggplant. Its main focus is on the concept of adaptogen products.
This Mushroom Gummy from Purify Life contains ten mushroom extract types, including shiitake, lion’s mane, reishi, cordyceps, Chaga, black fungus, and more. It also uses steviol glycosides to replace the application of sucrose and contains no other added sugars.
Rockstar Energy, an energy drink owned by PepsiCo, has launched a mushroom drink product called Focus. Its main ingredients are Lion’s mane mushroom extract and 200mg of caffeine. The product has zero calories and zero sugar. The genesis of launching this product was data research conducted by Pepsi. They found that consumers were interested in mushrooms. 64% of Pepsi consumers were interested in lion’s mane mushroom ingredient. Therefore, this product was launched in response to the consumer trend.
The mushroom market will continue to grow in the next few years, but it has not really entered the mainstream. Start-up brands currently dominate the companies that are laying out the market. When giants such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Mars, etc., launch products containing various mushroom powder, they will enter the mainstream market.
Brain Segment: Cognitive Health Becomes A High-Growth Market For Mushroom Extract
Data released by SPINS shows that in the mainstream diversified channel in the U.S., mushroom sales in the cognitive track grew by 115% in 2023. Meanwhile, in the natural fortification channel, mushrooms performed more significantly in the immune and cognitive segments of the track. Lion’s mane, Chaga, cordyceps, and reishi mushrooms dominate these.
Cognitive health is becoming a fast-growing segmental track for many mushroom markets. Companies have been launching various products to capture this market quickly.
Currently, in the cognitive market, the mainstream ingredients include Phosphatidylserine PS, fish oil DHA, ginkgo biloba extract, choline, and pseudo magnesium. Mushroom-based ingredients are emerging as one of the differentiating ingredients in this market.
In 2023, Sempera Organics, an ingredient supplier, launched a proprietary mushroom blend, SO-DSX1, which can be used in capsules, gummies, and powder blend applications. The major consumer scenarios for the application are cognitive, stress, and emotional.
In addition, many end-consumer brands have laid out mushroom-related cognitive products. Japan’s Daiichi Kogyo Pharmaceutical Co. is launching a mushroom product in 2023. The main ingredient is Natorid, an ingredient derived from Cordyceps sinensis. The product dosage form is the tablet. It targets the consumer scenario of middle-aged and elderly cognition. It has been granted functional labeled food status.
New Chapter (USA) has launched a mushroom complex product. The key ingredients are Lion’s mane mushroom, Ganoderma Lucidum, Chaga Mushroom, and Poria. The product is available in capsule form.
Compounding mushroom powder with other brain health ingredients is also a trend in product development.
Medterra has launched a product that blends mushrooms with herbal ingredients, including lion’s mane mushroom powder extract, rhodiola rosea, L-theanine, sea buckthorn oil, American ginseng, and pseudo amaranthus powder extract. The product dosage form is liquid.
Data published by Future Market Insights also states that the global cognitive health supplements market sales reached USD 9 billion in 2023 and are expected to reach USD 16.8 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 13.3% during the period.
Conclusion: What Is The Future Direction Of The Mushroom Market?
Several factors, including in-depth scientific research, increasing consumer health education, and changes in global health food regulations, will influence the future growth of the mushroom market. The application of mushroom powder is expected to expand further into emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America in the coming years. Consumer acceptance of natural health products is increasing in these regions.
The quality and purity of mushroom products will be further assured with technological advancements and improved production processes. Applying new extraction technologies and compound formulations will also drive product innovation and market competitiveness. Meanwhile, consumer demand for personalized nutrition and health management will drive the development of mushroom products toward customization and specialization, bringing new growth points to the market.
Global Mushroom Powder Extract Ingredients Supplier: Nutri Avenue
Nutri Avenue, a leading supplier of mushroom powder extracts globally, is known for its superior quality and wide range of products. We offer a wide range of mushroom extracts, including Reishi, Shiitake, lion’s mane, etc. These extracts are rich in polysaccharides, triterpenes, and other bioactive ingredients, providing numerous health benefits.
Nutri Avenue is committed to continually optimizing supply chain efficiencies through technological innovation to ensure that we provide our customers with pure, efficient products. Our sales team has extensive industry experience and can provide personalized service and support to our customers. Whether you are looking for dietary supplement ingredients or exploring new applications for mushroom extracts in food and beverages, Nutri Avenue is a trusted partner.
