Tucked in the misty ridgelines of Victoria’s Yarra Valley an exciting agricultural experiment is taking root. It’s not just a farm. It’s not a lab. It’s certainly not just about mushrooms.
Welcome to Gramco Fungi – a brand as humble as the soil it reveres and as ambitious as the ecosystems it’s working to restore.
They’re latest milestone? Successfully cultivating elusive morels on native soil. A feat that places them in the company of only a handful of growers globally and the first in Australia to pull it off.
Make no mistake, there’s nothing vague or soft about what Gramco Fungi is achieving. Cultivating morels is notoriously difficult.
The team at Gramco Fungi - Wes, Peter, Sunny and Jeremy - have been trialling morel mushroom production annually since 2019. Following years of experimenting and learning, they have proudly had their best ever harvest this year. Attention to agricultiral science, microbiology, climate, soil, mycelium and microbes is required for a successful crop - a collaboration with the land and microbial life.
To understand why this matters, you need to understand the morel. Rare, earthy and almost meaty in flavour, they are larger than their wild cousins, being a Northern Hemisphere variety. Prized by Chefs for their depth and rarity, they’ve long been foraged, not farmed. Grown in a sheltered environment, cultivated mushrooms are protected from the harshness of the environment, tend to be cleaner and easier to work with.
You can expect to see these delicious bundles of joy popping up in fine-dining venues across Australia. Think the rustic charm of Chef Spike's menu at No.7 Healesville where they are incorporated into luxurious seasonal dishes, or the soaring dining room of Chateau Yering where Chef Toby expertly incoporates them into an elegant meal, to the iconic vistas of Icebergs Dining Room and Bar Sydney with Chef Alex Pritchard at the helm. Touted as a must-have on the menu by culinary stalwart Martin Benn, these morels are delivering more than just a flavourful bite. For those eager to dive into them at home, Toscano’s of Kew, Victoria Gardens and Toorak have you covered.
That ethos runs through everything Gramco Fungi does. Whether its partnering with local businesses, microbiologists and scientists, the team treats cultivation as collaboration. Working with nature to bring you the best.
With climate change accelerating, soils drying out and native species disappearing, the cracks in our food systems are becoming harder to ignore. Gramco Fungi’s work arrives at a time when Australia’s relationship with agriculture is shifting away from extractive models to more collaborative ones, focussing on restoring what we’ve already lost.
Fungi aren’t just a tool at Gramco Fungi, they’re a way to understand how to work with nature, not against it. Their approach isn’t about conquering the land, but learning how to successfully participate in its recovery. All through the lens of the humble mushroom.
The next chapter of Australian dining won’t just be sustainable and delicious; it’ll be smarter and more connected to the land.
You can taste these culinary delights at the mentioned restaurants or purchase for the home kitchen at Tosacana's or order online through Gramco Fungi's website.
