From humble beginnings in Hunua in 2009, Out of the Dark Mushrooms has been a family endeavour, inspired by founder Phil Matheson’s world travels where he first saw Oyster mushrooms being grown on coffee grounds.

Although Phil started by growing the Oyster mushrooms he had seen in the States, Portobellos also proved to be an important staple in the first few years while kiwis cottoned on to the more ‘gourmet’ mushroom varieties.

Persevering with growing not only the long stemmed, delicate and versatile Oyster mushrooms but also the rich, textured, smoky Shiitake and the mild, sweet Enoki varieties, Out of the Dark Mushrooms outgrew their Hunua facilities and began farming at two sites in 2013 – one in Mt Roskill and the other in Kumeu.

The next move in 2018 saw the entire farming side move to glasshouses in Otahuhu with the office remaining in Takanini. Plans are now underway to develop a purpose-built mushroom farming facility.

Today Out of the Dark Mushrooms is producing about a tonne of mushrooms per week and supplies about 60% of that to top restaurants such as Cocoro, Sid@the French Cafe and Amano. They also supply to My Food Bag and have most recently launched into supermarkets.

“It’s not too many years since kiwis viewed mushrooms with a bit of suspicion,” says Phil.  “But today, with global travel commonplace, people are experiencing – and enjoying – new tastes, textures and flavours abroad.  This is impacting on the food scene here. We’re more experimental and open to new foods as is evidenced on supermarket shelves.”