Haw River Mushrooms Accelerates Its Goals

In search of gourmet, edible mushrooms? Heard about mushroom jerky? Curious about the health benefits of mushroom tincture? Haw River Mushrooms CEO Laura Stewart is banking on consumers regularly integrating nutritious mushroom-based products into their diets. And her partnership with Bill Aimutis and the team at NCFIL is helping her usher in those goals. 

NCFIL: What is your product and role with the company?

Haw River Mushrooms has 11 team members, with quite a few being farmers market staff. We have three people in production and four people in marketing, and I am in the administrative role. 

NCFIL: Tell us about Haw River Mushrooms recent activity. 

In 2020, Haw River Mushrooms’ jerky won a Specialty Food Association’s sofi™ Award. Originally, the margins were tough on the jerky because it was a 3-day production process. But with NCFIL’s assistance and access to its pilot plant, we converted a 72-hour process into a 6-hour process, which was great news. 

The even better news is we just completed a fundraiser for a micro-pilot plant; we converted a 53 foot mobile food truck into a pilot food processing facility. We can execute the jerky making plan in that food truck, and our goal is to outgrow the food truck in 12 months as we anticipate building our own manufacturing facility soon. We also hope to increase our wholesale presence and packaging; we want our packaging to tell our story even when we are not physically there to do so. 

I also attended the NC IDEA Ecosystem Summit 2023 in November and met the other MICRO finalists there. I felt as if I was ushered into a wider entrepreneurial ecosystem: so many people are willing to help you. Whenever you get stuck, you can easily find a cohort member to help you decipher potential next steps. 

We also participated in the Velocity Creative Accelerator program offered through the Center for Creative Economy. The Winston-Salem based program calls upon a network of over 40 mentors to help you accelerate your business. The program took place from August to November in 2023. 

How did/does working with NCFIL impact your business?

Since we started working with NCFIL, we’ve shifted our mindset. Working with their team enables us to ask questions and to be more involved in the national conservation surrounding plant-based nutrition. We really want to be part of this conversation and consider what mushrooms have to offer in that space. 

We currently have other food product ideas in Research & Development, and we know that we can call Dr. Aimutis and ask him for feedback from a food scientist’s perspective. Bill also assists us with grants. We were awarded a USDA Rural Development Value-Added Producer Grant for $250K, which started on November 1; it is executed over two years and supports customer expansion by providing funding for marketing, branding and scaling. 

What is one piece of advice you can offer other food entrepreneurs? 

If I could talk to myself 11 years ago, I would have so much to say. Know you are doing something unique. Invest in your network. Your network will help you understand some of the things to expect when growing a business, so you won’t feel alone. Whether it’s doing an accelerator or something else, find the things that get you out of the weeds of your business and help you remember why you started the business in the first place. 

What are Haw River Mushrooms’ future goals? 

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At NCFIL, we’re eager to work with entrepreneurs looking to enter the market with innovative products. We assist with everything from conceptualization to commercialization. Reach out through this online form to start a conversation.