Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Howard Berk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Howard, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Ellijay Mushrooms is working with Kennesaw State University (KSU) Mycology department Chris Cornelison, Ph.D. and Kyle Gabriel, Ph.D. to help us use the Agricultural waste i.e Cottonseed hulls, peanut waste, Corn Chaff , Cotton gin trash and turn it into a suitable mushroom growing substrate. We are currently setting up our log making facilities as we speak.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started off in IT for 19 years. During that time i spent endless hours being outside playing in the garden and growing mushrooms on many different substrates i.e. phonebooks, toilet paper, cardboard and logs. In 2010 a friend told me that Chamblee was about to start up a farmers market and they are looking for people to join and help make it happen. That decision was the moment my life changed forever. The farmers market was successful and I end up finding my 2funguys mushroom partner Todd Pittard (first mushroom company).
2FUNGUY, founded and owned by Howard Berk and Todd Pittard, is a mushroom growing company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company. make and sell inoculated logs that are sold to consumers for their own mushroom gardens.
2FUNGUYS.com was founded in 2011; however, Howard and Todd’s love of the fungi started years before they ever met. After meeting one evening at the local farmer’s market and quickly discovering the others love of the fungi, they became fast friends and started a local company selling shiitake and Oyster Mushroom logs so everyone could share in their love of Log Grown Mushrooms. They specialize in selling shiitake and Oyster Mushroom logs. These logs produce premium edible healthy mushrooms for years! (2 to 3).
Four years into 2funguys i got laid off from my IT job. Now full time at 2funguys and still currently grinding away selling DIY mushroom kits on 2funguys.com, Uncommon Goods, Williams-Sonoma, Shop Terrain , Amazon etc…
In 2018 Megan Cai reached out to me about starting another mushroom company for commercial and retail sales. The farm is based in Ellijay Mushrooms and can grow up to 30 acres. We grow our Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms in really big greenhouses that operate like a Big Green egg or Kamado Joe to let cooler air in or to heat it up.
Ellijay Mushrooms is a unique mushroom farm located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Ellijay, Georgia. Our mission is to produce the healthiest, best tasting, and highest quality shiitake mushrooms. Ellijay Mushrooms is Certified Organic, Georgia Grown, Primus GFS 3.1 Certified, CCOF Organic Certified, Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) and Appalachian Grown certified. We were hit hard during Covid since a large part of our sales went to local restaurants in and around Atlanta.
Ellijay Mushrooms worked with The Common Market to provide shiitake mushroom tills for the USDA Food Box program. This was a big boost for the farm and allowed us to keep our staff and keep the farm afloat. Also during that time we still maintained good sales with Whole Foods weekly plus a handful of local food hubs. We also saw a giant increase in orders from local CSA’s i.e. Cherith Farm, Love is Love Farm and Harp Shamrock Croft Farms.
We are always looking for new places to sell our bulk and packaged shiitake and oyster mushrooms, small to large, local hole in the wall to your favorite grocery store.
During covid Whole Foods did not have an order for one week. My heart sank for about 4 hours…. Then i decided to pull my big boy pants up and figure out a game plan. At that time we were only selling bulk shiitake mushrooms. I called our buyer back a few hours later and asked if we could bid on packaged shiitake mushrooms. She said yes! Now to figure how to pull this off without the big fancy packing equipment like the big boys and girls up north.
I worked with an amazing lady Chimene Krivsky with Precision Corr and she help me come up with a 100% recyclable cardboard mushroom till that had air holes for the mushrooms to breath. This will be a game changer in the industry. As we worked to finalize the 3.5oz mushroom till we got a call from The Common Market SE asking if we would like to add our shiitake mushrooms in to the USDA Food Box program to help family and people in need of access of fresh food during covid. I said yes instantly and then to being to panic and figure out how where we’re going to pack them and fulfill the large amount of boxes needed bi-weekly.
I went back to Chimene and can get these boxes made in 4 days. I had no hope and she said let me get back to you. I was ready for the rejection call and then she said, I think we can pull this off. I was in shock and she stuck to her word and made it happen. This was amazing to say the least. This allowed is to fill the orders and keep the farm afloat due to the revenue generated from this program and to keep all of our employees working. Chimene and her team went way above and beyond! So grateful to her and The Common Market SE for using our amazing yummy healthy mushrooms.
Ellijay Mushrooms is a unique mushroom farm located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Ellijay, Georgia. Our mission is to produce the healthiest, best tasting, and highest quality shiitake mushrooms. At Ellijay Mushrooms, we have mastered the art of mushroom growing / harvesting mushrooms. Our Organic and CERTIFIED NATURALLY GROWN mushrooms are grown with care, effort and integrity in double layer greenhouses. We currently operate with 7 greenhouses (130’x30′) and are actively expanding our footprint with two additional greenhouses due to increasing demand.
Ellijay Mushrooms are the Rolls Royce of mushrooms. Our fresh mountain water makes our mushrooms rich, buttery, meaty texture packed with health benefits including Vitamin D which is really important right now to keep your immune system high.
We take pride in every mushroom grown and sold. During covid we work with many local chef to donate mushrooms so they could cook meals for front line workers and first responders. Ellijay Mushrooms cares about our employees and product we serve to each customer. In January 2024 we will open our U-Pick mushroom farm with an education center.
Not 100% luck has a lot to do with success. You sure do get lucky to land that account but i look at it as all the hard work you had to do before you could even entertain the idea of asking for that new account. Yes we have been luck to have just enough mushrooms to fill XYZ order on time or lucky to be selling another weeks order to XYZ restaurant or grocery store. I still go back to the hard work and long hours our team puts in every day to make us successful. Mushrooms do not sleep on the weekends.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Working with KSU to help make Georgia Made Georgia grown mushrooms is a giant pivot, During covid all our supply channels got delayed and unreliable which cause giant mushroom production issues. These challenges made us unable to meet our demand. Working with KSU will allow us to hold our own to hold our own destiny in our own hands by producing all the mushroom logs at Ellijay Mushrooms instead of depending on supply chain.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
We are trying to change one taste bud at a time. Our plan is to work with the local schools on field trips to some see where mushrooms are grown and to introduce these young men and woman and show them that mushrooms can taste better than doritos. These are not your mama’s slimy mushrooms you had as a kid. Our mountain water makes Ellijay Mushrooms the Rolls Royce of mushrooms. Our mushrooms have been to the James Beard house for the last 4 years. You can leave our mushrooms in your fridge for over a week and then they are still amazing and ready for dinner.
Contact Info:
- Website: ellijaymushrooms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellijaymushrooms
- Facebook: Facebook.com/EllijayMushrooms
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardberk-mushrooms/
- Twitter: Ellijaymushroom
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ellijay+mushrooms
Image Credits
Howard Berk and @corryngoldschmidt