What was it all about?

This investment was all about educating the Australian foodservice industry about mushrooms, straight from the source. During 2019, it facilitated a series of mushroom farm tours for chefs and hospitality professionals in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.

The events showcased how Australian mushrooms are grown, and provided a better understanding of and connection to the people involved in the industry (from growing and harvesting through the supply chain). It also provided education on the versatility of mushrooms in culinary applications, the cost and health benefits of using them on menus, and new and novel ways to use mushrooms in cooking.

The tours included interactive cooking activity using locally sourced produce in each state. Here the objective was to increase the culinary confidence of the participants and to help stimulate new ideas for using mushrooms on menus in innovative ways.

Feedback from attendees was positive with 100 per cent of the 75 decision-making chefs indicating that the tour had enhanced their knowledge of how Australian mushrooms are grown and cultivated, and 90 per cent reporting that they planned to incorporate more mushrooms into their menu planning.

Every attendee indicated that they would recommend this tour to other chefs in their network.