Plant-based diet trend drives consumer demand for alternative mushrooms ABC News, 19 June 2019

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-06-19/rise-of-the-alternative-mushroom/11217680

Consumers are pushing demand for alternative mushrooms to new highs as plant-based diets become increasingly popular and people seek nutritious meat substitutes. Victorian mushroom farmer Jason Crosbie's commercial mushroom growing business began with an interest in nature. He now harvests about 40 kilogram of shiitake, king brown, oyster mushrooms and lion's mane a week, at his farm in Scotchmans Lead in Central Victoria. "I noticed the gap in the market and there aren't that many growers of alternative mushroom species around," Mr Crosbie said. "Demand is growing, people are more conscious of what they are eating and where they source it from." He explained king oyster mushrooms and lion's mane were a popular meat substitute among vegetarians and vegans. Besides its use for a meat substitute the chairman of the Australian Mushroom Growers Association, Tim Adlington, said consumers turned to alternative mushroom varieties for their health benefits.Challenges growers face: Despite the rising demand for alternative mushrooms Zac Burd, wholesaler and director of Umami Umami Ltd Pty in Melbourne, believed there were various barriers for the end consumer to access these varieties of mushrooms.

"There are not enough retail outlets that are willing to invest in purchasing a higher-priced mushroom, which consumers are actually interested in," Mr Burd said.

He said most of the alternative mushrooms are taken up by farmers markets, cafes and restaurants. Retailers are selling lion's mane mushrooms for $85 a kilogram.

Mr Burd said a further challenge was many alternative mushroom farmers were small-scale growers and had limited capacity to grow on commercial levels.

However, he was confident the industry had great potential to develop further in Australia.

However, Mr Crosbie said he tackled these initial hurdles and has been planning to expand his operation.

Task: After justifying the appropriateness of its use, use the model of perfect competition to support a discussion of the short run and long run prospects for firms producing 'alternative mushrooms', in response to the changed demand conditions.

1.Explanation of suitability of model to this market

2.This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeDiagram/s correctly drawn [SHORT-RUN]

3.This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeDiagram/s explained and used to support explanation [SHORT-RUN]

4.This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeDiagram/s correctly drawn [LONG-RUN]

5.This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeDiagram/s explained and used to support explanation [LONG-RUN]

6.This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeExplanation clearly related back to article content