How restaurants source mushrooms

Restaurants buy specialty mushrooms through a few different channels, and the right one depends on how much they use, how often their menu changes, and how close they are to a farm. This guide is written for chefs looking for supply and for growers who want to sell to them.

How kitchens get their mushrooms

Direct from the farm

Many small mushroom farms sell most of their harvest to restaurants. Rich Life Farm in Cincinnati lists about twenty restaurants and shops it supplies, and Black Trumpet Farm near Asheville supplies more than thirty restaurants. Some farms run this like a standing order with a weekly delivery day. Guided By Mushrooms near Dayton keeps a text alert list so chefs know when fresh mushrooms are ready, and delivers only to commercial kitchens on that service.

Direct buying gets the freshest product and varieties distributors rarely carry. In exchange, the kitchen has to plan around harvests and accept that a crop can come in light.

Wholesale from growers

Larger growers sell by the case with wholesale pricing. Phoenix Mushroom Farm in Arizona, for example, offers wholesale pricing on fresh orders of five pounds or more. At the largest scale, Pennsylvania's Phillips Mushroom Farms sells to multi-unit restaurant operators and food manufacturers as well as supermarkets.

Produce distributors

Broadline and specialty produce distributors carry the most common specialty mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, king oyster, maitake, enoki) alongside everything else a kitchen orders. It's convenient and consistent, but the mushrooms may be several days from harvest and the selection is narrower.

Foragers and wild mushroom dealers

Morels, chanterelles and other wild mushrooms reach kitchens through foragers and specialty dealers. This is where food safety needs the most attention. Rules on selling wild mushrooms differ from state to state, so check with your local health department about what counts as an approved source. A 2023 outbreak in Montana, linked to morels served raw or undercooked at a restaurant, sickened 51 people and was associated with two deaths. Investigators recommended cooking morels thoroughly. The morel guide has the details.

For chefs: setting up a farm supplier

1. Find growers near you in the directory. Filter for "Sells to restaurants."
2. Ask what they can supply reliably every week, and what's occasional.
3. Agree on a delivery day, minimum order and lead time.
4. Ask for the paperwork your health department requires to show an approved source. Requirements vary by state and county.
5. Agree on how short weeks will be handled before one happens.

For growers: selling to restaurants

• Start with consistency. A chef needs the same product every week more than a dozen rare varieties once.
• Bring samples at a quiet time of day, usually mid-afternoon between lunch and dinner service.
• Know your numbers: weekly volume you can commit to, case size, price and delivery day.
• Get your food-safety basics in order. Ask your state department of agriculture and local health department what registration or inspection applies to you.
• List your farm in our directory so chefs can find you. It's free: list your farm.

The Cornell Small Farms Program has extension resources on markets, regulations and food safety for specialty mushroom growers.