Nutraceuticals World (NW): Mushrooms continue to attract wide consumer interest as the market for dietary supplements and functional products expands. What’s your assessment of this market and where it’s heading?

Brian Zapp, Marketing Director, Applied Food Sciences (AFS): Mushrooms are some of the most incredible organisms on the planet, containing compounds both essential to the ecosystem and our health. Each mushroom has a multitude of benefits, and while they have been around for thousands of years, only more recently have mushrooms started to become this exciting industry star, both in functional food and beverage and also nutritional supplements. We’ve been conducting analytical chemistry to identify what exactly is in these different mushroom varietals while also exploring standardization of certain actives.

NW: AFS launched its own line of functional mushrooms sourced from Finland. What makes these ingredients unique?

Zapp: At Applied Food Sciences, we care about full transparency and traceability. In terms of a supply partner, sustainability, quality, and scalability are really important criteria.

Mushrooms are very big bio-accumulators, so quality has a lot to do with growing conditions. Finland has the cleanest air and water quality in the world, according to the World Health Organization. So we partnered with KÄÄPÄ Biotech in Finland, which has a solid foundation of mycological experience and research.

AFS Nordic Mushrooms are GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) for use in approved food and beverage applications. All mushrooms are certified organic and third-party tested for purity, ensuring they are free from contaminants and pathogens using proven validation methods. We’re also able to pinpoint the precise origin of every mushroom, from spore to shelf.

Currently we’re focused primarily on four varietals: Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, Reishi, and Chaga. We have the capabilities to produce others (Shiitake and Maitake), but from our perspective, the most excitement that we’ve seen from immediate customer input is in Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps.

Cordyceps are kind of mysterious. They’re a parasitic fungus on some insects. But our Cordyceps are actually vegan and grown on an organic base. Essentially, we use a fortified plant base to mimic a caterpillar substrate, if you will. Our cordyceps are able to inoculate the base and then we harvest the fruiting bodies. KÄÄPÄ is only one of a handful of companies in the world that are doing this method. 

Interestingly, Chaga is dependent on the birch tree, which happens to be the national tree of Finland. They have an extensive range of birch forests and together with Finnish forest-management services, KÄÄPÄ has been able to curate the largest sustainable network of Chaga cultivation in the world.

We harvest whole Chaga conks grown for 8-10 years in Finland birch tree forests. There are other, cheaper products on the market that take 3-4 weeks to develop but those are really “Chaga mycelium on grain” with different beta-glucans that often lack functional benefits.

Too often there isn’t a clear statement of identity. I think we need to graduate to a place where we’re all speaking the same language more often. The onus is on the industry to offer products that are validated and efficacious.



NW: What’s your impression of formulations on the market today and the potential for further innovation?

Zapp: There are some amazing brands out there. Every mushroom has its challenges. Cordyceps is fairly soluble, for instance, but Reishi presents some challenges. We’re working on improving solubility and some of the flavor profiles so that it can be applied to beverages or gummies without those off-notes.

When it comes to beverages especially, which is a big part of our business, we know that flavor is king and always will be. That’s the number one driver for repeat purchase. Consumers need to have that positive experience.

We’re used to extracting all sorts of different plant material, and removing some of that tannin fraction and some of that insoluble fiber to improve solubility without adding a carrier or another process that adds cost.


We use fruiting bodies to make our powdered extracts, which are highly concentrated and standardized to beta-glucans for optimal functional benefits. The actives are more concentrated so you can use less raw material and potentially save money. At the end of the day, it’s a higher concentration and a more bioactive level of those compounds.

Looking ahead, we are also very excited by early research we’ve conducted. The preliminary evidence around cognitive health measures is promising.