The forests are full of mushrooms this year, but their prices have fallen to new lows, reducing the number of pickers and eaters alike, say businessmen.

„Forests are full of chanterelles, but the buying price is very low, at a symbolic –1.5–2 euros per kilo. Earlier in autumn, it used to be as low as 5–7 euros," Virginijus Varanavičius, head of the Association of Lithuanian Forest Mushroom and Berry Entrepreneurs' Association, told BNS. 

He pointed out that chanterelles had not been bought so cheaply in the last three decades. 

A week ago, companies were paying €1–2 per kilo for chanterelles at the buying stations. There were days when the price dropped below €1 because they were very hardened. 

„This shows how much consumption has fallen“, the head of the association argued. 

Vidmantas Budrikis, commercial director of the company „Tandemus“, which buys and processes mushrooms, told the BNS that the abundance of mushrooms in the forests and the fall in their consumption, and thus in sales, are both contributing to a fall in prices. 

„Something people are not buying abroad this year. This year there has been a very strong drop in sales, last year for example in Switzerland the promotions were successful in the shops, but this year they are complaining that people are not buying," said a spokesperson for „Tandemus“. 

According to him, very few fresh mushrooms are available in local supermarkets. At the same time, 10 to 20 tonnes are shipped to Germany every day. 

V. Budrikis stressed that only Lithuanian mushrooms are shipped to Switzerland, not mushrooms from Russia – Russian origin is not welcome there.  

According to Varanavičius, the demand for mushrooms is declining at an extremely fast pace – compared to the demand five or ten years ago, the consumption is now down by half.

„There are no more people eating them. Especially mushrooms are rarely eaten by young people," said Varanavičius. 

„The demand for mushrooms is declining, and at the peak of the demand, when mushrooms appear at the same time in Romania, Latvia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania, they are collected in such quantities that no one eats them anymore, which is why the price rises so much," added the head of the association.

V. Varanavičius does not believe that the prices of Lithuanian mushrooms are being driven down by even cheaper products coming from other countries. 

„If business did not bring mushrooms, it would stop completely, but now it is stuck to some extent, although the volumes of all companies have dropped significantly, especially for fresh produce“, – he claimed.

The head of the association pointed out that the number of mushroom outlets has also dropped sharply. In Varėna, he said, there used to be a dozen mushroom buyers, but now there are only four left.

The representative of„Tandemus“ also said that the company no longer has its own mushroom buying points.