Forest Heaven
in Estonia
Nestled in Estonia’s Pillapalu Forest, MUSHEEZ, founded by Robin Gurney in 2019, blossoms as a self-funded, and fast-growing, provider of certified organic mushroom extracts. The company supplies throughout Europe and the United Kingdom and is looking to expand further.
"Clearly Miron glass helps protect the contents so that means the quality of our liquid mushroom extracts is more intact than in our pre-Miron era."
Co-founder and CEO of MUSHEEZ
Robin Gurney
Chaga as a Shield
MUSHEEZ's story unfolds with Robin Gurney's journey from scepticism to belief. Prompted by a friend's search for natural remedies and Robin's personal battles with cancer, he explored the traditional use of chaga in Estonia. Academic research, consultations with experts and anecdotal evidence led to a newfound respect for the potential of functional mushrooms.
Post-chemotherapy, Robin discovered he needed to navigate a world with a compromised immune system. Chaga became Robin’s immune-boosting ally in his self-protection strategy. He explained “I realised it wouldn’t work for everyone because our bodies are different, but I hoped I might be fortunate. I was. I believe chaga helps me defend myself against viruses and colds. Almost every winter I got bronchitis, pneumonia, or pleurisy. Now I don’t. It has strengthened my immune system and the bottom line is that I get sick lot less, almost never. For the last 5 years, things have been much better.”
"Our products last longer. That has a real economic
value to us and our clients."
Co-founder and CEO of MUSHEEZ
Robin Gurney
Affordable Access
to Excellence
Focused on Chaga, Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps, MUSHEEZ is dedicated to offering businesses affordable access to premium-quality mushroom extracts to offer to their consumers. Robin sheds light on the challenges they are tackling in the marketplace, stating, “The market for private label mushroom extract products is badly served with high MOQs, lack of seller knowledge, poor quality, and misleading information about mushrooms. We are changing that!”
MUSHEEZ, rooted in values of honesty, simplicity,
accessibility and transparency, disrupts the market by providing flexible private labelling options. As an example of this flexibility, they recently introduced a private label Lion’s Mane coffee. In addition, ”We make no health claims for our products; from experience we know that mushroom extracts work well for some people and not for others. Our bodies and their responses are different. So, we leave it to the people who use our products to make the claims, and that’s all the evidence we need.” said Robin.
The Art of Mushroom
Alchemy
MUSHEEZ's commitment to quality shines through its diverse extraction processes. Robin claims, each mushroom is a botanical treasure trove, where its essence, and it's 'compounds of interest' are locked behind tough cell walls. Unlike coffee beans that are transformed through brewing, mushrooms require meticulous alchemical processes. Robin explains: “Our proprietary methods involve both hot water and alcohol extraction and other trade secret methods each tailored to the unique properties of the mushroom at hand.
This intricate dance of nature and science ensures we capture each mushroom’s unique essence through 15-plus production steps.” According to Robin, consuming raw dried mushroom powder is similar to consuming unground coffee beans – it’s a missed opportunity. He further clarifies, “The human digestive system of most people lacks sufficient chitinase to break open the cell walls of many mushrooms and expose their potential.” Therefore, MUSHEEZ’s products are meticulously converted into soluble concentrated extract powders and potent liquids.
Shielding
Quality
Miron Glass as a
Game Changer
Challenges with standard brown glass led MUSHEEZ to embrace Miron glass, revolutionising their packaging strategy. In Robin’s words “We initially underestimated the importance of packaging, but it’s actually a vital part of product quality. We have two popular liquid products for which we use premium certified organic ingredients and no artificial additives. We noticed that our products are more stable and that the protective element of Miron is real. The Orion dropper bottles not only shields the products, but also the shelf-life stability and bottle quality improved. You can feel the weight. You instinctively know they are solid, reliable products and while it used to be different, we have had zero packaging related returns since we switched to Miron glass.”
Invest Wisely,
Embrace
Sustainability
MUSHEEZ's journey holds a valuable lesson for businesses in the health industry — investing in quality packaging is paramount. “Don’t make the same mistake as us. It is a false economy to cut costs on glass packaging for sensitive mushroom or botanical extracts. Protect your valuable products as best you can and get beautiful packaging at the same time. For us, that means Miron.”