Meet Bethany Eaton, Founder of New Functional Mushroom Brand: Mush

I grew three leading dairy free brands, now I’m entering the Functional Mushroom space with Mush and I can’t wait!

Tell us about Mush

I am a nutritionist and have run two of the UK’s leading dairy free brands for the past 14 years. In 2024 I was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have chemotherapy. I have always taken supplements, exercised and looked after my body so I decided to research and find a doctor of integrative oncology that could work with me along side my conventional team. I came across a doctor called Dr Kate James who put me on an array of ‘immunomodulants’ Functional Mushrooms that stimulate the immune system amongst other things.

I was in week 3 of my chemo when I started to take them and within a week my blood test results improved, I felt full of energy, I felt positive and most importantly I felt well and was able to have my treatment every week. At 12 weeks my lump had disappeared and I was able to go straight to surgery, I didn’t have to have the final 3 months of chemo I was due. I still take my mushrooms now and I see very few side effects even though I have to take Tamoxifen.

How did you come up with the idea for the company? Tell us about your core products or service

Once I was through my treatment an idea started to manifest itself, I wanted others to know how amazing mushrooms were, I wanted to create a brand that was premium, quality, brought a product to market that was easy to add the everyday habits that people already have, that didn’t taste bad but gave all the functional benefits of a product that could really help. I have to weigh out all my capsules and powders each day and this can be a faff so I decided that I wanted to start with liquids. Liquids are easy to absorb as they bypass the digestive system, so less is more and you see benefits sooner.

I am extremely picky about my ingredients so I had to find the best quality mushrooms, they needed to be organic and my extracts could not contain any alcohol. The products are dual extracted, which means alcohol and water are used in the extraction process to make sure we get all the beneficial compounds out of the mushroom. But we do not use any alcohol to preserve our liquids. Instead we use berries that are high in vitamin C, which also helps with absorption of the compounds in our bodies.

What most excites me about the mushroom industry?

I love mushrooms, I love learning about everything they do and all their qualities. I have a science degree in nutrition and I just love to know about how these beneficial compounds can help us. I am studying Mycology so I can learn and this can help me develop my products to be the best they can be. I could never put something on the market that isn’t going to do what it should, mushrooms are amazing and my products are amazing and are already helping people. Every time I get an email or a dm about how the products have helped it makes me smile and I feel so happy that others are benefiting how I have.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome along the way?

To be honest I have a pretty large business making dairy free products both for my two brands and white label so the mushrooms was a kind of side hussle, I have a great team around me and they have helped me bring this to life, I guess I thought this would be easy but as always, in business, nothing ever runs like clockwork. In the first week of launching we encountered a big supply issue with our co manufacturer.

Things are ironed out and running better again now but I want to grow Mush to be a big player in the wellness industry as I have done with my food brands, I have the network and team around me to do this but consistency of supply is obviously key and this has made me step back and consider my product range for the future and I have something very exciting on the horizon, I can’t wait for it to launch. For now we have our amazing liquid extracts in easy to carry 60ml bottles that can be incorporated into your daily coffee, smoothie or drink of choice.

What is your number one piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

My advice to any aspiring entrepreneurs is don’t feel that you need loads of money or investors to start a business, to bring your idea to life. I have never had investment, I had an idea, I had never worked in the sector of my idea. I used my family and friends to help me bring my idea to life and I believed in my products and put quality as my priority. Investors bring a whole new level to a business, it adds a whole new layer of complexity, the business isn’t really fully yours anymore and you have to answer to others. I would suggest going to networking events, chatting to others and getting contacts in your sector, this is what I did and I reinvested back into my business and this is how I have grown.

I see lots of brands that get invested up to the hilt, blow it all on marketing, don’t really make the sales and then run out of money and go under when no one wants to keep pumping them full of money, I wouldn’t want this pressure, especially not at the beginning. There are lots of places that will loan money to small businesses to get off the ground, we got a personal loan to get us going and then paid this off with our income. Make sure you price your products well, get some advice from other business owners, its easy to reduce pricing but very hard to go the other way.

What does the future hold?

I want to grow Mush to be a big player in the mushroom wellness sector, we will bring quality products to market that will help others, as we have always done in our business, we will lead in innovation and quality. I am excited for the future and the exciting products we have up our sleeve, watch this space!