Poland leader in global export of button mushrooms

Nearly one out of every three button mushrooms exported globally comes from Poland, a study carried out by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE), a government think-tank, has found.

According to the PIE study, in 2021, Poland had a 32-percent share in the global export of button mushrooms, making it the world leader in this category. Canada was second (20 percent share) while the third spot went to the Netherlands (14 percent share).

Citing figures from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the authors of the analysis said that the value of Polish button mushroom exports increased by nearly 47 percent and their quantity rose by over 27 percent.

"Button mushrooms from Poland are valued by foreign customers because their prices are lower than those offered by producers from Western Europe and due to their very high quality (most of the Button mushrooms are picked by hand)," noted the report.

It also said that in 2021 domestic producers sold over 232,000 tonnes of button mushrooms worth a total of EUR 400 million.

The experts also pointed out that, today, the industry is threatened by rising production costs which may reduce the price advantages gained so far on European markets.