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About Us
Founded in 2021 by Ciprian Capatina, Southern Mushrooms brings serious umami to New Zealand. We work with cultivated oyster mushrooms and seasonal wild varieties, creating preservative-free, NZ-made products that taste rich and savoury.
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Our range—Smoked Oyster Mushrooms, dried porcini, and mushroom powders—is designed to lift pasta, risotto, sauces, cheese platters and more in seconds. One spoonful and dinner tastes chef-made.
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We’re here to make better mushroom flavour easy and accessible for home cooks, hospitality, and retailers nationwide.
My Story
My mushroom story began in the 1980s, foraging mushrooms and wild berries as a kid in the forests of Transylvania, Romania. Curiosity turned into a lifelong passion for cooking with wild varieties — porcini, chanterelles, matsutake, Caesar’s amanita, honey mushrooms, saffron milk caps, truffles, oysters, morels — each with its own sweetness, earthiness, and meaty bite.
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In 2006 I moved to Aotearoa New Zealand and fell in love with its landscapes and edible fungi. Exploring new forests felt like starting the adventure all over again.
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That journey led to Southern Mushrooms Ltd — a way to share this love with others. Today we craft preservative-free, NZ-made products that bring deep, clean umami to everyday cooking. I hope they connect your kitchen to the wild, one delicious spoonful at a time.
