A grower standing beside a long shelf of white button mushrooms in a Quality Mushrooms growing shed

Commercial Mushroom Growers Federation of NZ

Grown in the dark.
Loved across Aotearoa.

Kiwi Mushrooms represents New Zealand's commercial mushroom growers, the family farms and specialist growers who put fresh, locally grown mushrooms on Kiwi tables every day of the year.

Meet our growers Find a recipe
  • Grown in New Zealand
  • Fresh all year round
  • Hand-picked

Why NZ mushrooms

Fresh, local and good for you

Every punnet of New Zealand mushrooms is grown close to home, picked by hand and on the shelf fast.

All mushroom facts

Grown indoors, all year

Mushrooms don't need sunlight. They grow in climate-controlled rooms, so New Zealand can enjoy them fresh in every season.

Picked by hand

Our growers hand-pick each flush, often more than once a day, so you get mushrooms at just the right stage.

Grown on recycled compost

Wheat straw and chicken manure become rich compost, and spent compost goes back to gardens and horticulture.

Naturally nutritious

Low in fat and sodium, with B vitamins, potassium and selenium. An easy, tasty way to add goodness to any meal.

White button mushrooms growing on a compost bed at Mercer Mushrooms

Growing room at Mercer Mushrooms, Pukekawa.

The big question

Why do you never see a wide open field of mushrooms?

Because mushrooms don't need light to grow. They get all their goodness from the rich compost they grow in.

Farmed mushrooms are grown indoors in specially designed rooms where growers carefully control temperature, humidity, fresh air and CO₂. It takes weeks of composting, pasteurising, spawning and casing before the first tiny pinheads appear. The crop is then picked in “flushes” about a week apart.

See how mushrooms are grown

Our members

The growers behind your mushrooms

From Waikato button farms to Auckland's exotic specialists, meet the members of the Federation.

All members
A grower standing beside a long shelf of white button mushrooms in a Quality Mushrooms growing shedCertified organic
Ohaupo, Waikato

Quality Mushrooms

  • Certified organic
  • White button
  • Swiss brown

A family-owned Ohaupo farm growing the only certified organic mushrooms in New Zealand — 10–12 tonnes a week, from nine sheds, since 1988.

Meet the growers
Rows of shiitake mushroom logs growing in a glasshouse
South Auckland

Out of the Dark Mushrooms

  • Shiitake
  • Oyster
  • Enoki

Auckland's exotic mushroom specialists, growing shiitake, oyster and enoki for top restaurants and the Exotics by South range.

Meet the growers
Aerial view of the Mercer Mushrooms farm with solar panels on the roof, surrounded by green fields
Pukekawa, Waikato

Mercer Mushrooms

  • White button
  • Swiss brown
  • Portobello

Home of the Bombay Button: a modern, solar-powered farm on the southern slopes of the Bombay Hills, beside the Waikato River.

Meet the growers

This week's picks

What to cook with mushrooms this week

Three ways to make the most of New Zealand-grown mushrooms this week: a warming pho, a meat-free burger for the BBQ and an easy one-pan orzo.

All recipes
Bowls of beef and shiitake mushroom pho with herbs, chilli and bean sproutsShiitake
1 hrServes 4Dinner

Beef and shiitake mushroom pho

A fragrant Vietnamese-style broth of toasted star anise, cloves and ginger, ladled over rice noodles, bok choy and wafer-thin NZ beef, with sautéed shiitake for a big hit of umami.

Key ingredients and method

You'll need

  • 250 g shiitake mushrooms
  • 400 g NZ beef sirloin
  • Beef stock, star anise, cloves, coriander seed, ginger
  • Rice noodles, bok choy, bean sprouts, herbs

In short

  1. Sauté the shiitake, then toast onion, ginger and whole spices in the same pot.
  2. Simmer with stock, carrot, soy and fish sauce for 30 minutes while the beef firms in the freezer.
  3. Slice the beef paper-thin, strain the broth and pour it, piping hot, over noodles, greens, mushrooms and beef.
Recipe: Kiwi Mushrooms on recipes.co.nz Full recipe for Beef and shiitake mushroom pho (opens recipes.co.nz (Beef + Lamb New Zealand))
Portobello mushroom burger with avocado, tomato and rocket in a sesame bunPortobello
25 minServes 4Lunch

Vegetarian portobello burger

Big portobellos brushed with a garlicky balsamic and herb marinade, charred on the BBQ and stacked with avocado, rocket, grilled capsicum and crispy plant-based bacon.

Key ingredients and method

You'll need

  • 4 large portobello mushrooms
  • Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, smoked paprika
  • Burger buns, avocado, tomato, red onion, capsicum, rocket
  • Plant-based bacon, sesame seeds

In short

  1. Whisk up the balsamic marinade and brush it generously over the portobellos.
  2. Grill hollow-side down for about 5 minutes a side until tender, grilling the capsicum alongside.
  3. Build the burgers with rocket, tomato, mushroom, avocado, onion, capsicum and the crispy 'bacon'.
Recipe: Mercer Mushrooms (Federation member) Full recipe for Vegetarian portobello burger (opens Mercer Mushrooms)
Creamy mushroom and spinach orzo in a white bowlSwiss brown
40 minServes 4Dinner

Mushroom and spinach orzo

A creamy, risotto-style orzo with golden Swiss brown mushrooms, garlic, Italian herbs and parmesan, finished with fresh spinach and parsley. All in one pan.

Key ingredients and method

You'll need

  • 450 g Swiss brown mushrooms
  • 350 g orzo
  • Chicken stock, cream, milk
  • Parmesan, baby spinach, parsley

In short

  1. Brown the mushrooms well and set them aside.
  2. Soften onion and garlic in butter, toast the orzo, then add stock, cream, milk, herbs and the mushrooms.
  3. Simmer until the orzo is tender, then stir through butter, parmesan, spinach and parsley.
Recipe: Mercer Mushrooms (Federation member) Full recipe for Mushroom and spinach orzo (opens Mercer Mushrooms)

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@kiwi_mushrooms Kiwi Mushrooms

Grow with us

Grow mushrooms commercially in New Zealand?

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