Entrepreneurs

His farm has two climate-controlled shipping containers, plus a 48-foot tractor trailer. \u201cMy footprint to produce what I produce is small compared to other crops,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s very efficient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He grows between 120 and 200 pounds of mushrooms each week, but he could sell five times as much. In the next few years, he plans to up his yield to 1,000 pounds a week. The market can bear it. His only limiting factor right now is time. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any chairs here,\u201d he says, gesturing around the farm. \u201cNobody has time to sit down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Despite the challenges of the pandemic over the last two years\u2014especially to the restaurant industry\u2014Hollander has maintained a steady business. He sells his gourmet mush<\/span>rooms to local restaurants in bulk. Though he takes orders for specific fungi, most of his chef clientele prefer a mixed box\u2014a pound of whatever mushrooms Hollander has harvested that week. \u201cChefs like to be creative,\u201d he says. \u201cThey enjoy the challenge of something new.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When he sends over a mushroom they haven\u2019t tried before, they\u2019ll ask him how to prepare it. Then they\u2019ll test-run the ingredient in a new dish and see how well the dish sells. From there, they\u2019ll adjust their future orders accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hollander\u2019s client list reads like a who\u2019s-who of the local farm-to-table scene\u2014Organically Twisted, Nosh, The Local, Inyoni Farms, The Claw Bar, Cafe Nutrients, Rosy Tomorrows, The 239. He also sells direct to consumers once a week at the Third Street South Farmers Market. The business-to-business experience is more natural for him, he says. \u201cThe chefs already know me, and they know they want my mushrooms. The farmers market gives me more exposure, but I have to be a salesman.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

He might be hesitant with sales, but Hollander\u2019s natural enthusiasm for his produce is contagious. Inside the converted trailer, he inspects the different mushrooms in various stages of development. In addition to the fungi destined to be stirred into risotto or folded into ravioli, he also grows medicinal mushrooms such as reishi, a flat, coppery-brown mushroom used in traditional Eastern medicine to boost the immune system. Hollander creates a powder from it that can be served in medicinal teas. The powder, plus tinctures he makes from other mushrooms, is one way he manages the highly variable nature of his industry. \u201cIt\u2019s farming,\u201d he explains, \u201cso I don\u2019t have a guaranteed harvest. And mushrooms are super perishable.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

He\u2019s had to figure out how to balance sudden bumper crops against unexpected setbacks. A recent problem with his sterilization machine, for example, cost him $5,000. Plus, he has to adjust to the seasonal restaurant demands of Southwest Florida. Tinctures and powders, which keep better and store longer than fresh mushrooms, are just one way he\u2019s developed to counteract these problems.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But for Hollander, the motivations behind his business aren\u2019t simply financial. \u201cI do this because I love it,\u201d he says. \u201cMushrooms are not only delicious, but they\u2019re a functional food. And the connections they form feeding our human community run even deeper.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>","post_title":"Fantastic fungi: Russell Hollander grows gourmet mushrooms for local restaurants","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"fantastic-fungi-russell-hollander-grows-gourmet-mushrooms-for-local-restaurants","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-04-26 14:38:38","post_modified_gmt":"2022-04-26 18:38:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.gulfshorebusiness.com\/?p=25631","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_14"};