SpawnX commercialises a standardised mushroom farm package to produce oyster, King Oyster and shiitake mushrooms at a net cost of €4 to €5 per kilogram, against the €17 to €20 per kilogram it attributes to conventional European farms. The model separates the technically demanding work from the farming: SpawnX produces liquid spawn by precision liquid fermentation at its own facility and delivers it to growers, who run containerised substrate lines, movable growing racks and a

Beyond Meat has launched a new mycelium-based steak filet into US retail, marking the company's first foray into fungi-derived whole-cut products. The product uses mycelium to replicate the fibrous texture of whole-cut beef steak in a way that plant proteins alone have struggled to achieve. The launch signals a strategic pivot for Beyond Meat as the broader plant-based meat category faces sustained consumer demand decline, with fungi-derived formats offering a potential route

From grassroots community gatherings in Pennsylvania woods to academic conferences in Portuguese castles, the summer 2026 mushroom festival season spans continents and disciplines. Each event is rooted in the same underlying science: fungi season is triggered by seasonal rains and shifting temperatures, prompting the fruiting bodies of vast underground mycelial networks to emerge worldwide. With scientists estimating as many as five million fungal species on Earth, only a fra

Article produced in partnership with Applied Food Sciences, a leading functional ingredient manufacturer. Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) has become one of the leading ingredients in cognitive health, yet independent human trials show its effects are inconsistent, a gap rooted in how little the species name on a label reveals about a product's actual composition. Applied Food Sciences has published a validated UHPLC-UV method that measures the mushroom's key marker compounds

Dutch food tech company The Protein Brewery has closed an €18M Series B extension, bringing its total funding to over €70M, days after securing the first EU novel food