Mushroom packaging continues to evolve. For many years Styrofoam was the de facto industry standard with farms eventually turning away from Styrofoam to recyclable RPET type tills/trays. Since that time, the industry has been utilizing forms of plastic to pack mushrooms, whether it be overwrapped colored trays/tills or top-sealed clear trays/tills. Mother Earth Mushrooms made a New Year's resolution in 2025 to move to a truly recyclable/compostable till/tray for its retail organic mushroom line. "Part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability is to move away from plastic packaging," says Mark Kreiner, Outside Sales Coordinator with Mother Earth, LLC. "By switching to fiber tills that are made of bamboo and bagasse, we anticipate saving close to 166,000 pounds of plastic annually versus what we used last year."
While finding the right partner for the trays/tills was critical and time consuming, Mother Earth is now exploring recyclable film options. "For us, getting the right compostable tray was the top priority, and now we can focus on options for recyclable overwrap film," Kreiner said.
Demand for domestically grown
The new tills are available for all Mother Earth's organic mushroom offerings, except the 16 oz. sizes which will convert in Q2. Some pack size options were eliminated to streamline the packing line process, partly offsetting the extra costs for the new packaging. So far, the feedback from retailers and consumers has been very positive and encouraging.
"We have been receiving exploratory calls and e-mails from distributors and retailers that are currently sourcing mushrooms from Canada and/or China. They are concerned about the tariffs enforced by the U.S. significantly raising their landed costs and negatively impacting their customers. There is a lot of uncertainty around the tariff situation in all of agriculture, and distributors and retailers are weighing contingency plans to maintain current pricing structures and supply chain," commented Kreiner.
Dried mushroom pieces.
Organic powders and dried pieces
In addition to the compostable trays, Mother Earth has also launched eight new mushroom products: four flavors of organic powders and four flavors of organic dried pieces. "Powders are a popular ingredient in smoothies and beverages while mushroom pieces are mainly used for cooking. All powders and pieces are from mushrooms grown in the U.S.: Lion's Mane, Oyster, Shiitake and Portabella." Each case of powders holds 12/ 1 oz. packs and each case of dried mushroom pieces holds 6/1 oz. packages. The products are in gusseted, center hole punched bags that can be merchandised on a shelf, J hook, or clip strip throughout the store for increased touch points and cross merchandising. Mother Earth will be adding SKU's to the lines later this year.
For more information:
Mark Kreiner
Mother Earth, LLC
Cell: 443-962-0926
mkreiner@organicmushrooms.com
www.organicmushrooms.com