1.1 Definition and scope of the study

Contrary to popular belief, the mushroom is not a plant and is its own biological kingdom. The mushroom we know is the visible part of a much more complex organism growing underground. There are nearly a million species, which can be classified into different families:

Edible;
Poisonous;
Hallucinogens.

In this study we will deal only with edible mushrooms, such as Agaricus bisporus, Poplar (Pholiota Aegerita), Gelon (Pleurotus Ostreatus) and Cornucopiae (Pleurotus cornucopiae). We will exclude truffles from this study, to which another comprehensive study is devoted.

Both globally and domestically, the mushroom market is growing. According to industry experts, the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) is expected to be 8.3 percent between 2020 and 2025 globally.

In Italy, mushrooms are appreciated and used to create very tasty and diverse dishes. Italians buy and consume mushrooms in all forms: raw, washed, sliced, in soup, cooked or frozen. Seventy percent of mushrooms sold are fresh, the remaining 30 percent are processed. Most mushrooms sold in supermarkets are produced in Italy, particularly in Veneto and Emilia Romana.

1.2 Global market analysis

Mushrooms are a product that can both be cultivated and found in nature; depending on one's usual growing season, one can say that mushrooms can be found almost everywhere: along the banks of rivers and shorelines of seas, in lowland, hill and mountain forests, even at quite high altitudes (***), in meadows ...

1.3 The Italian market

In Italy, mushrooms are cultivated in mushroom farms, and the technical term is "fungiculture," or an activity that is among the many crops present on a seasonal basis. The most cultivated mushroom in Italy is the Prataiolo mushroom or more commonly called Champignon mushroom, followed by Pleurotus Ostreatus (***). More than ** percent ...

1.4 Import and Export Analysis

The Italian mushroom market is recognized worldwide for the excellence of its products. In fact, as the chart below shows, the economic value of exports exceeds that of imports but not in quantity, which in **** turns out to be almost one-third of imports. This demonstrates the quality of Italian products and ...

2.1 Overview of demand

In Italy, the month of October has always been considered the month of mushrooms par excellence because mushrooms proliferate in situations of humidity and rain, but without any particular water stagnation; The mushroom has the great ability to be born in very different and even not exactly easy situations: almost miraculously ...

2.2 Geographical distribution of demand

Mushroom consumption in food is frank to that of fresh or refrigerated vegetables other than potatoes or other tubers. Now let's look at the geographic distribution of average expenditure per household in Italy on these products.

Source: ****

2.3 Alternative uses of mushrooms: mycotherapy or fungal therapy

Fungal therapy is a form of alternative medicine derived from traditional Chinese medicine and is based on the use of certain types of fungi to treat and prevent disease Fungal therapy is also used in other traditional Eastern medicines such as Ayurveda. The mushroom kingdom-or fungi, if you will-includes many genera, ...

2.4 The morel sub-segment

Morel, a member of the Morchellaceae family, is an edible spring mushroom. Its nutty flavor with fine and characteristic woody aromas makes it a rare and delicate prestige mushroom. Morels are a complex group with many varieties, some of which are difficult to recognize. However, two groups can be distinguished quite ...

3.1 Distribution channels

Distribution channels for mushrooms can vary depending on the type of packaging and storage of the product. There is a favored destination, which is definitely that of large-scale organized distribution, although obviously each region has its own peculiarities; in northern Italy, for example, they prefer to consume mushrooms preferably trifoliated, while ...

3.2 A concentrated production

Mushroom production in Italy is highly concentrated both geographically and in terms of the number of companies operating in the sector.

As far as companies are concerned,there are four main Italian POs in the mushroom world (***), production cycle in closed and protected environments, low energy and water consumption systems, and ...

3.3 Production methods

Different production methods are used and each mushroom has its own method.

In general, the mushroom has * different cultivation methods : in mills, in wooden boxes, in bags and in trays. Today, the most common cultivation is in trays but they all follow the following steps and * months are needed before ...

3.4 Different preservation methods

Source: ****

4.1 Mushroom species

There are hundreds of thousands of mushroom species worldwide, however, as mentioned several times in this study, very few of them are currently cultivated. The cultivated and most valued varieties turn out to be (***)

Champignon or prataiolo (***), also called Portobello, characterized by its hazelnut-colored cap, is the most suitable for risottos, ...

4.2 Price Analysis

Below are ISMEA prices for some of the most purchased types of mushrooms.

In general, there has been a gradual increase in prices in Italy in recent years, but prices have remained somewhat stable in recent years. This is also due to the fierce competition in the domestic market. The Italian ...

4.3 New start-ups that are changing the industry

Several start-ups are revolutionizing the sector in the utmost years. For example, start-ups that help people grow their own mushrooms in an environmentally sustainable way, such as the Italian "Funghi espresso," whose aim is to reduce waste and enable people to grow edible mushrooms in their own homes from coffee grounds, ...

5.1 Regulation

Law No. *** of April *, **** (***) set the rules for mushroom cultivation activities, making it to all intents and purposes an agricultural entrepreneurial activity. Such entrepreneurs fall into the category of taxpayers taxed on the basis of land income under Presidential Decree No. *** of September **, ****.

As a vegetable that is often processed or ...

5.2 Collection

Regulations on mushroom picking vary from region to region, in fact depending on the region you may need to have a special permit for picking and there may be limits on the amount of mushrooms that can be picked per day.

At the national level, however, there are laws to comply ...