Kevin Melman, founder of FUNJ Shrooming Company, an urban mushroom farm in South Burlington, has been working with both the Intervale Food Hub and the Intervale Center’s Farm Business Services teams over the last year and a half to grow his farm operation.

Kevin’s journey to becoming an urban mushroom farmer began back in high school when he first discovered his passion for foraging. He moved to Vermont for college where he bought an oyster mushroom grow kit for his dorm room, sparking his love for cultivating fungi. He remembers foraging a lot back then. “Whenever I had a lab class outside or whenever I was on a hike with friends, I was slowing everybody else down.” After graduating, he got more serious about mycology (the study of fungi), and eventually founded FUNJ Shrooming Company.

His original business plan, which he created back in late 2019, was focused on selling gourmet mushrooms to local restaurants, but when the pandemic hit just a few months after starting his farm, he was forced to pivot. “I started going to farmers’ markets, doing direct-to-consumer home deliveries, selling to grocery stores, really just anything to survive,” Kevin recalled. In the years since he has significantly expanded his business and honed his market to predominantly wholesale.

The Intervale Center’s Farm Business Services team supports Vermont farmers at all stages in their journey. When Gina Simmons, Farm Business Specialist at the Intervale Center, started working with Kevin in 2023, they began by identifying his goals, both business and personal, and from there worked to create a roadmap to growth and success. Gina recalls Kevin being “really clear about what wasn’t working.”

In the last year and a half, they have accomplished a lot together. “I come to Gina with a million ideas in the sky,” Kevin remarked, adding that “she grounds me a little bit and we focus up.” They meet on a weekly or monthly basis depending on the projects Kevin is tackling. Together, they have moved through a wide range of business planning activities (primarily grounded in the financials) such as: year-over-year and monthly cash flow projections, a comprehensive and evolving Cost of Production, Capital Budget/ SWOT Analysis creation, as well as the agricultural grant application process. Kevin added that “oftentimes there is a moment of farm therapy too.”

A big part of what the Intervale Center’s Farm Business Services team aims to do is set farmers up for success in the future when they move on and graduate from our business planning programs. “Numbers alone hold little value,” Gina noted, “what truly matters is the work we do around interpreting and using financial statements and modeling tools. This is what builds confidence in the countless micro and macro decisions farmers face every day.” Gina’s ultimate goal is to equip clients with tools they understand and see the relevance in, and will continue to use beyond the time they work together. Which, Gina added “is what boosting financial literacy is all about. I often feel like I’m here to connect that last 5-10%.”

The hard work is paying off as his business continues to grow. Today, he produces up to 300 lbs. of mushrooms a week out of a warehouse he rents in South Burlington. While the facility itself is more than 1,400 sq ft, the grow room where the mushrooms are actively fruiting is quite small, only 100 sq ft to be exact, with shelves up to 6.5 ft high. As the demand has increased for his mushrooms, he is starting to reach capacity with his existing grow space.

A portion of his growth this past year is thanks to his partnership with the Intervale Food Hub. Kristen McDowell, Food Hub Manager, and April McIlwaine, Food Hub Operations Coordinator, have been working with Kevin this past year to help FUNJ access new markets. Because identifying and accessing markets can be time consuming and costly for farmers and producers in Vermont, the Intervale Food Hub works to provide critical infrastructure and connectivity for farmers and their customers. Our Food Hub operates year-round to provide market opportunities for more than 80 farmers, value-added producers, and distributors.

The Food Hub has been consistently placing a significant order every week – Kevin estimates that up to 12% percent of his production is being sold through the Intervale Center. “Most of that is going to UVM/Sodexo which is super exciting to me,” added Kevin, “it was kind of this full circle moment where I was once a UVM student and now I get to grow mushrooms and feed my alma mater. It is only because of the Intervale playing the role of the intermediary that I’m able to fill that role.”

With increasing demand for his shiitake, lion's mane, and oyster mushrooms, Kevin plans to expand his grow space and build out his team in the next couple years. He describes growing mushrooms as “a little bit of both the art and the science,” reflecting about the importance of asking, “what are the mushrooms telling you that they need today?” Instead of fighting the mushrooms, he added, "you are having a conversation with them.” Building out a business is similar, constantly adapting, listening to market growth and demand, and regularly checking in on both personal and professional goals to ensure you are on the right path.

From Foraging to Farming