Developments in the mushroom sector are coming to fruition

(Photo: Pixabay)

This year, a particularly difficult situation has developed in the domestic mushroom sector. According to the overview of the National Chamber of Agriculture, demand for fresh mushrooms fell more significantly in the summer than in previous years, while at the same time there was a strong oversupply not only in the domestic but also in the entire European Union market. Demand seems to be strengthening towards the end of the summer, so the domestic mushroom market can be expected to stabilize in the coming months. This situation has highlighted that the market is unable to withstand sudden large-volume movements and fluctuations in demand. The mushroom market is oversaturated across Europe, and players are crowding each other out – the strongest survive.

Overall, it is true of the domestic mushroom sector that production is becoming increasingly concentrated

Due to strong market competition, many small producers have given up cultivation, and only the most efficient, capital-rich mushroom growers have been able to survive. Today, there are practically three growing regions left: Kerecsend, Bócsa and Pest counties. The domestically grown mushroom production area has grown to between 160-170 thousand m2 in recent years (due to its closed, shelf-based production system, the production area per hectare is not comparable to other cultures).

Hungary has a decisive role in EU mushroom production; alongside the Netherlands and Poland, Hungary sees the EU mushroom market

Overall, the domestic mushroom market can be said to be stable, a promising and developing sector. In recent years, the producers that dominate the domestic market have implemented significant developments and capacity expansion, and several have now reached the end of investments that have been ongoing for years. As a result, the cultivation area has now expanded by several thousand square meters. In addition, producers can also utilize the existing cultivation tents more efficiently. 30 percent of the domestic mushroom crop goes to export markets. In the past decade, exports have ranged between 7-9 thousand tons, and in 2024, our mushroom exports were 8,500 tons. Our main target markets for fresh mushrooms are neighboring countries, primarily Austria, but we also ship to Slovakia and Romania in smaller quantities.

From a nutritional point of view, mushrooms are superfoods because their calorie content is very low, but they also contain rich sources of fiber and protein, as well as valuable minerals and vitamins

Thanks to their favorable amino acid composition, they can be easily included in vegetarian and vegan diets to supplement plant proteins. Although mushroom consumption remains popular, the average per capita mushroom consumption in Hungary is around 1.5 kg/person/year, which is significantly lower than the European figure of 3 kg. Mushrooms are a product that can be grown in an extremely sustainable way, with a very low water footprint, with 3-4 liters of water being sufficient to produce 1 kg of mushrooms. Agricultural by-products (straw, chicken and horse manure) are used for their cultivation to produce mushroom compost, which is used to produce healthy food, and the mushroom compost produced can be used as a soil conditioner.

NAK