While some love and some loathe, mushrooms are one of the most popular fresh produce items with over 1.5 billion portions of them sold each year in the UK**. However, conventional mushroom crop production currently relies on the use of peat, a precious carbon-rich natural resource that takes thousands of years to grow in wetland ecosystems.

Following a decade of research and development, Sainsbury’s has today become the first UK supermarket to launch conventional mushrooms that have been grown without peat. This significant change to the growth process reduces the carbon intensity of mushroom production, leaving peat in the ground, which will help protect nature and get the retailer get one step closer to its Net Zero goals.

Rolling out from this month, customers will be able to spot ‘Grown without Peat’ on by Sainsbury’s mushroom packaging in 200+ Sainsbury’s stores across the country. Peat-free mushrooms will be first available in the White Closed Cup 300g and White Baby Button 200g variants.

Mushrooms are typically grown in two layers of material – first a layer of natural compost and then a layer of peat, the latter playing a key role in the yield and quality of the mushrooms, making it very difficult to replace. Instead of using peat, Sainsbury’s new mushrooms are grown with an innovative sustainable substrate made from recycled natural materials. Developed in partnership with Sainsbury’s long-term mushroom supplier Monaghan, the new process will remove 20,465 tonnes of peat from mushroom production per year*.

As a natural carbon storer, peat plays a key role in regulating earth’s climate. Extracting peat to help grow products such as mushrooms is contributing to climate change and the destruction of wetland ecosystems, as carbon emissions are released during harvest and the peatlands can take decades, if not centuries, to recover. Peatlands also provide critical habitats for many rare, threatened or declining animal and plant species, while having a significant ability to retain water, and to improve both soil and water quality. With weather patterns becoming increasingly unpredictable due to climate change, peatlands’ ability to slow water flow can potentially help to reduce the risk of flooding.

This breakthrough will not only benefit the planet but also customers as it has resulted in mushrooms that are higher in quality – firmer in texture and whiter in colour – with a day longer shelf life.

Richard Crampton, Director of Fresh Food at Sainsbury’s, said: “At Sainsbury’s, we’re committed to playing our part in enabling and driving a resilient and sustainable food system, including protecting nature and reducing carbon to Net Zero. Our new peat-free mushrooms will help us to get another step closer to achieving these goals in our supply chain.

“We’re proud to be the first supermarket in the UK to bring peat-free mushrooms to our customers, who want easy ways to make more responsible choices when buying food, without compromising on quality. This wouldn’t have been possible without the work of our partner Monaghan who spent 10 years coming up with the alternative.”

Noel Hegarty, Chief Commercial Officer at Monaghan, said: “At Monaghan, we are committed to lowering our climate impact across every facet of our operations. Although mushrooms already have a low carbon footprint in comparison to other foods, we want to take this further with our journey to net zero. Peat-free mushrooms are a huge step forward with that ambition.”

Karl Mitchell, Director of Fundraising at The Woodland Trust, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to hear that Sainsbury’s is introducing peat-free mushrooms as part of its core range. This is a significant step towards protecting our peatlands, which are vital for biodiversity and climate resilience. Peatland restoration is an important part of our work at the Woodland Trust, and our 20-year partnership with Sainsbury’s has been instrumental in making a positive impact on our sites. This latest announcement demonstrates a shared commitment to a sustainable future.”

Alongside the transition to peat-free, Sainsbury’s is also the first UK supermarket to offer Vitamin D enhanced white mushrooms, delivering 170 million portions of mushrooms enriched with the sunshine vitamin every year. With 57% of UK adults lacking in the recommended Vitamin D levels, just 100g of these enriched mushrooms help adults to reach their daily reference intake of Vitamin D. Following the launch of vitamin-enhanced chestnut mushrooms in 2018, this latest offering means Sainsbury’s has the biggest range of Vitamin D enriched mushrooms in the UK.

These innovations also follow a series of bold changes to reduce plastic in packaging across stores nationwide. In January, Sainsbury’s made its greatest standalone plastics removal on mushroom punnets, saving over 775 tonnes of plastic a year.

Sainsbury’s has committed to becoming Net Zero across its own operations by 2035, and supply chain by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Media enquiries: [email protected]

The UK government aims to restore 35,000 hectares of peatlands by 2025, and early last year announced a phased reduction in the use of peat in the horticultural sector by 2026, with a complete ban from 2030. The retail sector accounts for 70% of peat sold in the UK, however Sainsbury’s is already peat-free on compost and bedding plants, while all bulbs are sold without peat discs, and all remaining perennials, climbers and litre pots are grown using a reduced peat mix.

* Based on an 80g portion. Figure derived from Monaghan’s analysis of total peat casing used at different volumes of mushroom supply to Sainsbury’s

** Kantar Worldpanel online 52wks updated to 1st Sept 2024

About Sainsbury’s

Offering delicious, great quality food at competitive prices has been at the heart of what we do since John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury opened our first store in 1869. Today, inspiring and delighting our customers with tasty food remains our priority.

Driven by our passion for food, together we serve and help every customer. We help everyone eat better by enabling customers to improve their diets while reducing their impact on the environment, one plate at a time.

Our focus on great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online is supported by our brands – Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar and Sainsbury’s Bank. Sainsbury’s has over 600 supermarkets and over 800 convenience stores. Argos is a leading digital retailer and is the third most visited retail website in the UK, with over 80 per cent of its sales starting online. Argos is conveniently available for customers to collect from hundreds of Sainsbury’s stores. Digital and technology enables us to adapt as customers shop differently and our profitable, fast-growing online channels offer customers quick and convenient delivery and collection capability.

Our colleagues are at the heart of serving and helping our customers every day and are vital to our success, now and in the future.