Gourmet Mushrooms Inc. was opened in Scottville, Michigan in 2014 by David Law. David is from Sonoma County, California and founded GMI in 1977, in Sebastopol.
Originally GMI, Scottville was Diversified Natural Products, DNP. DNP was owned and operated by Gary Mills, Ph.D. Dr. Mills received a Ph.D. in mycology/microbiology from Michigan State University. Also, he received his M.S. and B.A. degrees from the University of Florida. Dr. Mills has over 35 years of experience in the mushroom business. He was a co-inventor of the landmark patent outlining the technology necessary to produce morel mushrooms and he continues to work on the production of morels at our Scottville farm.
Aside of Gary, the beginning stages of the farm also had Jack Smith and Scott Merrick working hard.
Jack, harvest and packing manager, was born and raised in Mason county. This helped provide a familiar connection with the community. Jack received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Grand Valley State University. He has been employed at our mushroom farm since May 2005.
Scott, facility manager, has been employed at our farm since January 2005. Scott has a Bachelor of Science degree in construction management from Michigan State University. He is trained in boiler operation and has a technical degree in electrical technology. Scott also has a Master of Business Administration from Davenport University.
Since GMI started in Scottville, we have continued to grow our most popular variety, Maitake Frondosa, aka “Hen of the Woods”. Maitake consists of almost 50% of GMI Michigan’s weekly total mushroom production of approximately 21,000 lbs/average.
Our entire line of specialty mushrooms consists of not only Maitake but also, Alba & Brown clamshell, Forest Nameko, Velvet Pioppini, Nebrodini Bianco, and Trumpet Royale.
GMI currently employs 76 workers. Employment by GMI has more than tripled since 2014. Amongst the 76 workers are 15 harvesters that hand harvest and pack the average of 21,000 lbs. That is almost 1,500 lbs/week for each harvester!
GMI stands behind the concept of sustainability. Our product is completely sustainable from start to finish. We use waste materials to produce our mushrooms, after harvest we compost the mushroom substrate for an outside soil company to utilize for their cultivating business.
Our goal at Gourmet Mushrooms is to provide as many people as we can with nutritious and delicious specialty mushrooms. Mushrooms are being proven to be a healthy addition or substitution for meat in many dishes with their blend-ability. Also, some mushrooms have been recently linked to cancer fighting qualities. We believe every household should incorporate mushrooms into their diet.
So, from the West to the East coast, but grown locally here, our mushrooms speak for themselves! As we say, NO LONGER WILD BUT FAR FROM TAME!
We are working on more distribution within Michigan but we are currently in The Orchard Market in Ludington and Free Soil, and Hansen Foods located in Hart. We also hold a weekly farm sale on Friday’s from 1:00 – 3 pm,
506 E. State St., Scottville, MI 49454 (South Building)
Categories: Food/Farm
