Several North American functional mushroom businesses have formed the Functional Mushroom Council (FMC), a nonprofit organization that had its official debut at SupplySide Global.

The organization’s goals for 2026 include new research on quality standards, bioactive compound profiles, and the health impact of mushroom ingredients which include all phases of its life cycle. The nonprofit will also highlight comparative quality and transparency benefits of North American-grown functional mushrooms over mushroom products imported from overseas.

Several mushroom brands, including Fungi Perfecti, M2 Ingredients, Monterey Mushrooms, Aloha Medicinals, Mycopia, and Far West Fungi founded the organization. These founding members will contribute their expertise in mushroom cultivation and sustainable practices to support scientific research on mushrooms’ benefits; educate the public and the industry; and support the success of growers, suppliers, and brands across North America.

“People have benefitted from functional mushrooms for thousands of years, and North American growers have been cultivating them for decades,” said Julie Daoust, PhD, chair of the Functional Mushroom Council and chief science officer at M2 Ingredients. “As the industry has grown, so have concerns around ingredient quality and labeling accuracy. Today, we’re working together to establish North America as the global leader in the highest-quality, most scientifically backed functional mushrooms, and to champion real transparency across the supply chain.”

“In my expert opinion, the best products are formulated incorporating mushroom mycelium grown in the U.S. where we are held to higher standards of quality, sustainability, and care,” said Paul Stamets, member and founder of Fungi Perfecti.

The U.S. functional mushroom market surpassed $1.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach between $2 billion and $2.2 billion in 2025, FMC reports, reflecting double-digit growth across supplements, beverages, and foods. North America is one of the fastest-growing regions globally, with expansion across direct-to-consumer, digital, and brick-and-mortar channels. Functional mushroom coffees, in particular, are one of the strongest drivers of growth, and North American consumer demand is shaping trends and innovation in the industry at large, FMC noted.

“Until recently, many brands had to source their functional mushroom ingredients from imported or foreign suppliers,” said Amir Karian, vice chair of the Functional Mushroom Council and director of Monterey Nutra. “But that dynamic has changed. North America’s leading growers, the same innovators who came together to form the Functional Mushroom Council, have rapidly scaled their capacity, quality systems, and scientific infrastructure to meet the needs of this booming category. Today, brands no longer need to rely on overseas suppliers. They can partner directly with North American growers who produce the highest-quality, organically grown functional mushrooms in the world, backed by unmatched transparency, consistency, and innovation.”