Organic mushroom extract supplier Nammex reported an exponential increase in the amount of cultivated turkey tail mushrooms harvested by its partner farms, in the third year of its cultivation operation for this species.
 
According to the company, cultivation offers advantages with better control over cleanliness, a more consistent quality in supply, and removed pressure on the ecosystem, compared to wildcrafting, all of which are important in the face of increased demand.
“In 2021, our inaugural year of commercial production of the first and only large-scale cultivation of turkey tail ever attempted, we produced 8,000 kilos of dried mushrooms,” said Skye Chilton, CEO of Nammex. “We’re pleased with how well the cultivation program is scaling, producing 12,000 kilos in 2022, and an impressive 30,000 kilos in 2023. We’ve projected 80,000 kilos of dried material for 2024 with an ultimate goal of scaling to 150,000-200,000 kilos annually.”
 
Turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) grow all over the world and have been used traditionally for immune support. They’ve been increasingly used by Western healthcare practitioners, generating more demand and raising the market value. Higher demand for wildcrafted material puts pressure on the wild supply, and, historically, Nammex’s testing has shown that wildcrafted material has inconsistent quality compared to organically-cultivated mushrooms.
 
In the U.S. dietary supplement ingredients are subject to analytical testing to screen for pesticides, herbicides, microbiological contamination, heavy metals, and identity. Despite growing in the wild, turkey tail has shown occasional pesticide and heavy metal levels that did not meet Nammex standards, so the company began experimenting in cultivation with its partner farms to find a suitable, high-yielding cultivar capable of growing on wood material.
 
Once these conditions were met, analytical testing demonstrated that the cultivated mushrooms were of consistent quality and regularly met higher standards than those set by regulatory agencies.
 
“We can lessen some of the demand for the wildcrafted turkey tail, thereby reducing environmental harvesting stress, and at the same time optimize the health benefits with a higher quality mushroom,” said Chilton.