MUSHROOMS: Sales Value and Volume Decline in 2020/21

MUSHROOMS:  Sales Value and Volume Decline in 2020/21

The farm value of all mushroom (Agaricus and others) sales during the July 2020 – June 2021 marketing year, totaled $1.064 billion, down by 8 percent from MY 2019/20 (table 12). Total mushroom sales fell by 7 percent to 758 million pounds, reflecting interruptions and slowdowns in both the production cycle and foodservice demand during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A 3-percent drop in total area filled with Agaricus mushrooms was reinforced by a 5-percent decline in yield per square foot. Yield fell to 5.63 pounds per square foot, the third consecutive reduction in mushroom productivity since the all-time high of 6.91 pounds in the 2017/18 MY. Most of the decline since the 2017/18 season was realized over the past 2 seasons, both of which were negatively affected by labor and market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales of brown mushrooms—including Portabello and Crimini varieties—rose by 2 percent and now account for 26 percent of total Agaricus sales volume.

The sales volume of fresh-market Agaricus mushrooms declined 7 percent to 737 million pounds in 2020/21. From 2010–19, 90 percent of all Agaricus sales have consisted of freshmarket volume. Most of the decline in 2020/21 sales likely occurred during calendar-year 2020 since industry first-handler shipment data show domestic fresh volume increased by 2 percent for the first 8 months of calendar-year 2021. Reported fresh shipments from handlers operating out of industry leader Pennsylvania continue to lead the way, with California’s volume for January-August 2021 remaining below that of the same period in 2020.

On the processing side, the pandemic-influenced interest in home-prepared meals may have helped spur retail demand for mushroom packs and prepared meals containing processed mushrooms. Partly as a result, domestic Agaricus processed volume increased by 20 percent from 2019/20 to nearly 67 million pounds. Despite the slight resurgence in 2020/21 marketing year, the long-run trend in domestic mushroom processing likely remains on a downward slope.

With fresh market demand picking up as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions receded, gaps in domestic output were filled in by a 6-percent gain in import volume. The gain in fresh imports consisted of Agaricus (up 9 percent) as specialty volume—a commodity popular within the pandemic-embattled restaurant industry—declined by 13 percent. Canada accounted for 70 percent of the fresh mushroom import volume, followed by Mexico (18 percent), and China (6 percent). Imports of processed mushrooms continued to trend higher in 2020/21 MY as frozen volume rose 6 percent, canned imports rose 18 percent, and dried/dehydrated import volume (largely from China) increased 36 percent.

The average reported price for all mushroom sales in 2020/21 MY was $1.40 per pound, down about 1 percent from the 2019/20 MY (figure 7). With the domestic supply of fresh-market mushrooms lagging demand, the average price at the point of first sale (grower price) rose 1 percent to $1.41 per pound. At retail, the average advertised retail price for an 8-ounce package of fresh conventionally grown white button mushrooms increased by 1 percent to $1.92 in 2020/21. The average certified organic white button mushroom retail price fell by 3 percent to $2.64 per 8-ounce package.

Meanwhile, reflecting the rising domestic output and greater imports, the unit value of mushrooms available for processing fell by 6 percent to 67.8 cents per pound. The 2020/21 MY price reduction was a return to the longer-run nominal price trend after the pandemic-inspired surge in 2019/20 MY.

The volume of mushrooms produced as certified organic in 2020/21 increased by 3 percent to 131 million pounds. Certified organic mushroom supply continues to far outstrip demand with just 55 percent of available organic volume sold as organic mushrooms—with the USDA certified organic label—down from 62 percent a year earlier. Specialty (non-Agaricus) mushrooms accounted for 8 percent of certified organic sales, with the remainder being Agaricus. The share of all mushroom sales volumes consisting of certified organic products remained just under 10 percent in 2020/21.

In line with reduced production and still-recovering foodservice demand, per capita availability of all mushrooms declined by 6 percent to 3.53 pounds in 2020/21. Fresh-market use fell by 7 percent to 2.58 pounds per person—13 percent below the 2015/16 record high. Per capita availability of processing mushrooms remained flat at 0.95 pounds but are expected to continue trending lower from the 1994/95 peak of 2.00 pounds as consumers continue to move away from processed products.