Demand for mushrooms is not as high as it was during the festive period but remains strong, according to Mr. Daniil Spanos, General Director of the mushroom packing company Manitou, based in Thessaloniki, Greece: "Prices remain high for imported Polish mushrooms. I think this is connected to the stoppage of Russian gas deliveries to Europe. The next period of increased mushroom consumption is expected to be during the Orthodox Big Fast for Easter, beginning on March 3."
Manitou welcomes 2025 with a brand-new product, which aspires to make mushrooms more appealing to meat lovers. "We make mushrooms not only more interesting for vegetarian and vegan consumers but also bring them closer to meat lovers. We have created a range of three different mushroom options that strongly resemble traditional and beloved Greek meat dishes. These new products are Poikilia, Manitarogyros, and Manitarosouvlaki. All these refer to traditional and globally famous Greek dishes, but mushrooms have replaced meat," says Mr. Spanos.
'Poikilia' means 'plenty and diversity' and originally refers to a meat dish that can be found in all Greek taverns. As the Greek entrepreneur explains: "Instead of a variety of different meat types, we provide consumers with a generous portion of three types of mushrooms: regular and yellow Pleurotus and Lentinula. Manitarosouvlaki and Manitarogyros represent the two types of the famous Greek souvlaki. The first one includes four sticks with Lentinula, Pleurotus, and Brown Agaricus, while the second one features slices of Pleurotus cut in the form of gyros in souvlaki and ingredients for home-made sauce."
This is the first month that the new mushroom products have entered the market, along with two additional options of solid Lentinula and Pleurotus. "Our new mushroom products can be found in one nationwide supermarket chain, Masoutis. The first impressions are positive. We are talking about an innovative dish that, although similar to the original meat version, is healthier, more nutritious, and, for sure, much cheaper than buying the same portion of meat," says the owner of Manitou.
Manitou, active in the mushroom market since 1989 and recently acquired by Nikolaou Group, also offers a great variety of mushroom options. These include Brown Mushrooms, Baby White Mushrooms (20–40), White Mushrooms (40–60), White Mushrooms (60–80), Sliced White Mushrooms, Portobello (60–80), and Shiitake Mushrooms.
For more information
Daniil Spanos
Manitou
Tel: +30 2310 700 432
Email: [email protected]
manitoufresh.com
