blog-special

Shroom for Improvement

Posted on October 9, 2025 2:59 AM

Howard Berk has always had a fascination with mushrooms, some would even say it’s what makes him a fun guy. 

“My interest in mushrooms started when I was a teenager. I’d go to the train trussells and notice mushrooms on the logs. This piqued my curiosity, and since back then there was no internet, I went to the library to learn about them,” said Berk, who grew up in Ohio.

Fast forward from Ohio to Georgia and Berk found himself living in Atlanta in 1996 and growing mushrooms on logs in his backyard. He discovered a passion for eating healthy and a desire to teach people how to grow their own mushrooms. 

His first mushroom business venture, called 2 Fun Guys, led to meeting his current business partners, Megan Cai, Li Cai and Amanda Liu. They had a dream to create a mushroom farm in Ellijay and to “change one tastebud at a time.” In 2018, Ellijay Mushrooms was founded to not only grow and sell delicious mushrooms, but to improve the quality of life for local residents.

“After creating Ellijay Mushrooms, I knew we could make a living doing this and make a change in our community here in Gilmer County, where there are not lot of jobs and affordable housing,” said Berk. “In 2019, we secured a contract with Whole Foods and I realized this would succeed. I hired people form our community, paid a good wage and gave people the opportunity to grow as humans and in life in general.”

Now, Ellijay Mushrooms produces 6,000 pounds of mushrooms a week in their 11 greenhouses, with plans to increase to 8,000-10,000 pounds a week. They grow four varieties: shitake, blue oyster, golden oyster, lion’s mane and king oyster. They hope to add maitaki soon. 

“Shitake is our most popular. It’s adaptable, a good replacement for vegans and vegetarians, lasts a long time in the fridge, and is the more versatile of the mushrooms we grow,” Berk said.

Ellijay Mushrooms’ shitakes are for sale at Whole Foods, some Ingles stores, other distributors and restaurants in Georgia. They have a farm store on their 170 acres that’s open Wednesdays to Sundays, where people can come buy mushroom bread, coffee, mushroom items and locally made candles and garden supplies. 

“Our farm store is amazing. It’s unreal to overhear young kids talking about mycelium and fungi. We love allowing people access to see how mushrooms grow through self-guided tours and we don’t charge anything for that,” Berk said. “We have a you-pick flower field and picnic tables and chairs. As we grow, we continue to create things for families to do when they come visit us.”

A fun day on the farm isn’t the only way Ellijay Mushrooms is bringing joy to local families.

“Every time we sell more mushrooms, we can employ more people in our community and provide more growth opportunity here. This community has adopted me, and we know everyone. Learning from my own past and watching my grown daughters live their lives, I’ve realized that if you have to commute far for a job, it takes away part of the day that could be spent with your family,” said Berk, 52. “Creating more jobs that are local allows people to spend more time with their family and friends and be present in their community. We are building an amazing team, and it’s a great feeling to make changes in our community with the business we created. People don’t have to move away to get a job, and it’s nice to provide that opportunity.”

Berk said the company’s biggest challenge to creating those opportunities is getting meetings to pitch their product with other large stores.

“Once we get people to see and taste our mushrooms, they can tell the difference. It’s the North Georgia magic mountain water that makes our mushrooms the best,” Berk said.

Visit ellijaymushrooms.com to read more about visiting the farm and finding their products in stores.