How this weird looking fungus could build a Canadian business empire

It's wild-looking, frilly, featheryand, at first glancean unlikely money maker, but one London, Ont. based business is banking on the growing popularity of the maitakemushroom as the foundation of aNorth American business empire.

Shogun Maitake Canada set up shop in London about a year after company CEOYoshinbuOdairareceived an invitation from Joe Fontana while the former London mayor was on a trade mission to Japan.

"Right now we are preparing to sell," said Odaira, speaking through his translator and executive assistantNorimiSakamoto. "Once we start selling, I'm pretty sure it's going to take off."

Yoshinobu Odaira explains why mushrooms became his life's work

7 years ago

Duration 1:07

Yoshinobu Odaira explains why mushrooms became his life's work

What makes Odairaso confident is a mushroom shrouded in myth.

Maitaketranslates from Japanese literally as "dance mushroom" and folklore tells of agroup of woodcutters and nuns who were so overjoyed at discovering the tasty mushroom sprouting from the forest floor they danced for joy.

It's saidthe maitake was so prized during Japan'sfeudal period thatthe Shogun, or supreme warlord,would pay the wild mushroom's equivalent weight in silver.

Tothis day, the fungus is still cherished by chefs and mushroom hunters for its flavour, texture and storied healing powers. Themaitake,or "hen of the woods" as it's known in English,grows wild at the base of oak, elm and even maple trees in hardwood forests around the world.

What makes Odaira different from your average mushroom hunter though is that he doesn't intend to go scouring the damp floors of forests. Rather,intends to grow his fungiin a lab, using technology and techniques he developed over the course of the last 30 years.

How it's made

The mushrooms take about 100 days to mature. Workers grind oak chips into saw dust, plop the grainy mixture into a clear plastic bag and seed it with maitakemushroom spores.

The mixture is then kept incomplete darkness for a number of weeks to mimic the fact that the nascent mushroom would be underground in its natural surroundings.

Humidity and temperature are also closely controlled to mimic the conditions of a Japanese forest.

The summer room

The spores slowly start to consume the sawdust in the bag and it eventually turns from a dark brown to white, as the fungus fills its container.

Once this happens, the bag is transferred to a room specifically designed to copy the summer conditions of a Japanese forest.

Here, the mushrooms are allowed to stay for a number of months and once they start to peek their frilly heads out of the bag, they're transferred to what the company calls "the late summer room."

The late summer room

Once the mushroom's headgrows out of the bag workers expose it to light, moisture and even a slight breeze in order to imitate late summer conditions.

The maitakes only spend 10 days in the late summer room and take about 100 days to reach full maturity. Once they do, they grow to the size of a large cabbage or small pumpkin.

The mushrooms last about 11 days in the fridge and even after that, can be dried and powdered.Shogun MaitakeCanada sells its produce at retail for about $35 a mushroom and plans to ship across North America.

"The first fragrance of themaitakemushroom is very nice," company CEOYoshinbuOdairasaid, picking up one of his large feathery mushrooms with both hands and taking a long deep sniff."Compared to other mushrooms, themaitakehas a very rich umami."

Building an empire

Right now Odairais banking on the maitake's culinary reputation, hoping to sell to chefs and restaurants in major North American cities, such as New York.

Chefs in big city restaurants haveto import maitakes from Japan, which would take days. Now with a growing facility in London, Ont., Odaira can ship the mushrooms quickly and cheaply and in better condition than if they spent days aboard a cargo ship.

Odaira also hopes to harness the maitake's reputation as an immune booster. He's watching closely as the world's scientific community investigates the mushroom's anti-viral capabilities and potential as a cancer fighting agent.

At this point, Odairahas deliberately kept the Londonoperation small. ShogunMaitakeCanada currently has only 10 employees, but if his mushrooms take off like he thinks they will, he's hoping to expand the operation to 150 employees and eventually open four other factories of that size in the London region.