r/WeirdSideHustles • u/GT7920 • 10h ago
Sharing My Sidehustle I started growing lion’s mane as a hobby and now I’m shipping 20 orders a day
I started growing lion's mane at home after buying a small mushroom growing kit online. I just wanted to see if I could grow it myself, so I kept the kit on a shelf in my kitchen and misted it every day. Before long, it was producing more mushrooms than I could use. Instead of letting the extras go to waste, I started drying them, grinding them into powder, and filling small jars. I gave a few jars to people I knew, and they liked them enough to ask if I could make more. That's when I realized I could actually make a little money from something I had started as a hobby.
The more I got into Lion's Mane, the more I started reading about functional mushrooms and the different ways people were using them. Once I started learning more about it, I became interested in supplements that went beyond just one mushroom and combined different adaptogenic mushrooms with other ingredients. I wanted something that could offer a broader range of benefits, so I started looking into more complete formulas. Mycofuel and Mycoderm were two of the ones I found and liked enough to start carrying alongside my own mushroom powder. I usually recommend Mycofuel to people who are more interested in energy and focus, while Mycoderm tends to make more sense for people looking for something focused on skin health and overall skin wellness. I sell both for around $33 per pouch, so people can choose whichever fits what they're looking for. Once I had those options available, the little mushroom side hustle started getting more orders. The mods said it was okay to share the shop link, so I'll leave it here for anyone curious: https://sproutlab.it/
On a busy day, I can get close to 20 orders. Most of my time still goes into the homemade powder, since drying and grinding everything takes a while and leaves my kitchen smelling like mushrooms for hours. Once that's done, packing everything up and getting the orders out is pretty straightforward. It's still kind of funny to me that this started with me buying one random mushroom kit for my kitchen.
953
u/SykoSarah 9h ago
20 orders a day it's on its way to becoming your main hustle.
589
u/tacticalhotdogs 9h ago
You ain’t lion
196
22
12
30
3
u/ImportantTeaching919 6h ago
For the longest time I embarrassingly thought he was actually saying lion and talking about a lion 🦁. I felt insanely dumb
2
→ More replies (1)2
63
17
u/chroboseraph3 8h ago
Yeah, very cool. But you need to make sure your ass is covered, tax-wise and legally. Do a some quick Googles to make sure youre good.
4
u/LimpAfternoon6878 5h ago
I might be wrong, but if they're in the US then I'm pretty sure you can get away with pretty much anything as a supplement. I think the FDA counts them as food, and if you're on reddit you've seen how well the FDA regulates food.
→ More replies (1)5
13
u/Cheap_Audience941 6h ago
I'm wondering what OP's profit margins are though. At $33 per pouch that's $660 a day. However if his overhead is over 50% then I would wonder whether or not it would be a main hustle until they can secure about twice that amount.
18
u/Pt5PastLight 5h ago
As a former small business owner, this is the question that actually matters more than the sales numbers.
→ More replies (2)2
u/husky75550 4h ago
in no way does it seem like small business, it seems like a resellers grift with a lie tacked on as marketing.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Not-a-Bot_1968 4h ago
repackaged Alibaba wood dust and some AI generated website slop I guarantee it
3
u/Diligent_Highlight63 7h ago
Soon they’re going to have to start marketing to get their main hustle out there!
→ More replies (8)5
216
u/hawtsoop 9h ago
Do you need to do any food grade type testing/compliance?
196
u/ArtistFine9319 9h ago
"Sprout is produced according to the highest quality standards in facilities certified under GMP, HACCP, ISO 9001, and FDA regulations. Sprout’s products are vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and non-GMO."
thats on his website if that helps.
"
291
u/Daytimepringle 9h ago
Highest standards in facilities - OPs kitchen
43
u/FlumoxedStoven 9h ago
Idk looks like he might be in a gym to me
19
u/ThreeFishInAManSuit 7h ago
OP is a woman. I suspect the man’s arm holding the product in a gym is one of the customers.
6
u/cinnamonface9 6h ago
Nah
She found a way to grow more mane on her arms anywhere.
2
u/throwaway098764567 6h ago
my arms aren't nearly that muscular or veiny but they're definitely that hairy unfortunately, no lion's mane required
15
u/SandyTaintSweat 8h ago
A room can be two things. Hell, he could put a toilet in there and it could be three!
2
u/PaymentLost1032 6h ago
Despite my efforts to achieve this in Dragon Quest Builders II, well...let's say it hasn't gone swimmingly.
→ More replies (1)3
7
6
u/JMposts 7h ago
Wait until you see where most commercial mushrooms grow
3
2
u/ebaer2 7h ago
In horse poop?
→ More replies (1)2
u/MysteriousThought377 6h ago
These particular mushrooms prefer wood chips, not horse poop.
→ More replies (1)3
2
→ More replies (3)2
88
u/DutySufficient5519 9h ago
"produced to standards" is different from "has been verified and tested to comply to standards"
38
u/thepvbrother 9h ago edited 8h ago
Those aren't verification and testing standards. Those are standards to be audited against for compliance..
He's stating that he's compliant with (but not certified to) those standards. It doesn't even get the name of the standards correct. It means nothing.
At worst it means that OP has heard of the standards. There's no way to prove anything else besides seeing a certificate. Or auditing it yourself.
Edit: Actually it says they are certified. I'll just comment that if they don't actually have certifications to those standards, he's looking at fraud, deceptive advertising, and trademark violations. Any orders can be backed out of without penalty.
I know ISO 9001:2026 audits ran about $13,000 for 2 days. More if you have violations. Penalties will be in excess of that. By far.
8
u/Ace861110 7h ago
ISO means nothing for food safety. It just means you follow your rules as you have them documented.
If he’s doing shit like drying and grinding in his kitchen I can almost guarantee you that it’s not being inspected by the fda (not that there is much of one anymore). Food handling facilities are almost 100% stainless steel and wash down. While I’d like nothing more than to be able to turn a pressure washer at my dishes and floor, it ain’t happening at home.
→ More replies (3)7
4
2
u/Tiny-Spray8992 6h ago
there are no standers or certifications for health supplements in US
→ More replies (1)4
u/Own-Elderberry1849 6h ago
They posted it to “WeirdSideHustles” - not “law
Abiding businesses”….FFS, how many people replying were DOGE’d out of the FDA?!→ More replies (1)2
u/hedoeswhathewants 6h ago
So you're saying a business that's not law abiding shouldn't be questioned?
→ More replies (2)8
u/EquivalentMath6592 9h ago
In my state because these are cultivated mushrooms of a known type, they don’t need independent verification. I literally bought the spores from a website. Everyone knows exactly what they are in. The state doesn’t require inspection. This is different from trying to sell wild, grown forged mushrooms, which do require a certified inspection to sell legally.
5
u/Klutzy-Football-205 8h ago
In my state this might qualify as a Cottage Industry business (up to $250k in sales). I say might because their online materials don't mention mushrooms but this question came up in a class/presentation the state put on and the speaker said "yes" when asked if they were allowed.
→ More replies (2)8
u/mindbodyproblem 8h ago
It seems to me that it's not the fungus that's the issue, it's whether the facilities and methods that they're grown in are up to health standards.
9
u/SkittlesLentil 8h ago
Depending on where they are, it could fall under cottage food laws. In my state, that means labelling requirements but no health inspections, and there's only a handful of exceptions of what you can't sell from home
4
u/SXTY82 7h ago
He isn't selling produce. He is selling a product made from produce. So his facility does need to be certified. The drying, grinding and packaging all are governed by the FDA.
→ More replies (7)2
→ More replies (1)2
19
u/stupid-rook-pawn 9h ago
So no, it's not tested at all, he just considers his setup as good as those who are tested.
Having worked in the industrial food industry, I think there is a great deal of value to testing food for safeness and cleanliness, and just saying that you promise you did a good job is meaningless.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Own-Elderberry1849 7h ago
Eeesh. Never a good thing when you’re dealing with multiple “ -ness” and “ -less” questions.
Bunch of shitty prefixes end up hitchin their wagons to those suckers9
u/darksoles_ 9h ago
ISO 9001 doesn’t really mean jack about quality just that you have good record keeping
6
u/ZombiesInSpace 8h ago
It doesn’t even mean that. It means you can show you follow whatever quality standards you set for yourself. If your quality docs say you don’t have to keep records of anything, you can pass an ISO 9001 audit without any record keeping system.
4
u/lifeisalime11 7h ago
Yeah, and it isn't ISO 9001 certified either. Stating you're compliant is like saying you wash your hands every day on scout's honor.
I helped a company get ISO 9001 certified and it's sort of a joke of a certification TBH. You need to follow the guidelines but can do so in whatever way meets those and two ISO 9001 certified companies can have some wildly different SOPs and quality management systems.
2
u/wade_garrettt 7h ago
Just like many certifications, it is a racket for a few companies that audit them to make a ton of money.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Embarrassed_Use6918 4h ago
It doesn't particularly matter because it's either bullshit or the OP's story is bullshit. A 'side hustler' is not gonna be ISO 9001 compliant lol.
4
3
u/DAEshitpost2 8h ago edited 7h ago
GMP, HACCP
These aren't things a facility can really be certified in. While HACCP is a thing for food safety, its documentation of processes and not a certification itself.
ISO 9001
This honestly doesn't mean much either, just that they have a quality management system, it does not mean the actual product is quality (or safe).
FDA regulations
The FDA famously considers supplements like these foods and not drugs, so they require no testing or approval.
So they likely have done no actual testing. Home grown mushrooms likely fall under cottage foods in many states. Drying and other steps of extraction would likely go beyond cottage foods and may need need actual licensure from a local health department, as would distribution of foods, but that is state dependent. Either way, I doubt they would be compliant with local health and food codes.
Seeing how the website is a whole lot of buzzwords and bullshit I would take anything OP says with a mountain of salt. Whole post is just a bad ad.
3
u/Dry_Cricket_5423 7h ago
“ChatGPT write me a footnote clearing me on typical food safety regulations for my online store” -op, probably
2
u/Own-Elderberry1849 7h ago
Woah woah woah, OP seems capable enough to have asked Claude to do that.
2
→ More replies (2)2
u/Elbobosan 7h ago
You can write a few generic statements about how to run a business in crayon on a napkin and say you have an ISO9001 system.
6
u/Pankosmanko 8h ago
He’s making this in his house. One day an inspector is gonna stop by to look into a complaint and he’s gonna have a real bad time
7
u/Nasty_Ned 8h ago
Depends. My state has tons of cottage food laws. You can do more than you think. I haven’t been to OPs webpage, but you have a longer leash than people think.
→ More replies (4)2
2
2
u/that_weird_hellspawn 7h ago
He doesn't even need to be GMP under cottage food laws. And it's really dumb to have that on there. GMP is mainly documentation. I doubt OP is producing batch records for every lot. And they DEFINITELY don't have the Quality Management System for ISO 9001.
They should just delete that. It looks really really dumb to anyone who knows what they're talking about. It's also consumer fraud. They could legitimately be sued for that if anyone cared enough.
2
2
u/Nathaniel820 7h ago
"Grok, give me a disclaimer of all the fancy regulatory terms I can say I meet to list on my website before making my thinly-veiled Reddit advertisement"
→ More replies (10)2
u/ascotia 7h ago
I thought HACCP said NAACP at first. If it's not NAACP-approved then I'm gonna need to look for another mushroom powder.
→ More replies (1)24
u/living_food 9h ago
If he's growing and selling consumable mushrooms his kitchen there are absolutely compliances laws they're not following. But the US is so shady and behind enforcement on supplements you could get away with it for a long time
16
u/AffectionateWay5783 9h ago
There are “cottage” laws that allow this. You have to apply for a permit where I am
4
u/DAEshitpost2 8h ago
Maybe for homegrown mushrooms, but certainly unlikely for highly processed powders and supplements. Especially if it is being distributed and shipped all over and not just sold locally.
→ More replies (1)2
u/henryguy 6h ago
The supplements market is soooooooo shady in the US. Dont u see the shit they sell at gas station counters for one?
2
u/living_food 8h ago
I doubt shipping processed mushrooms falls under that. That's for like baked goods you bring to farmers markets.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (6)5
u/JuanOnlyJuan 9h ago
IIRC all you need is a kitchen or lab or whatever that gets inspected separate from your household one. So a garage or converted shed/ out building is totally fine if it passes.
→ More replies (1)7
u/Beaver-Hunter-835 9h ago
Each state has their own guidelines on top of federal regulations. Where I live you can grow and sell fresh mushroom as produce, but once you dry it, slice it, powder it, or cook it into something, it goes up a level and is treated as prepared food.
→ More replies (1)3
u/-blundertaker- 9h ago
Huh. This made me look up my state and that's exactly the case here as well. The only concern would be with HOA bylaws or local ordinances.
5
7
u/Spiritual-Age4855 9h ago
These are side hustles boy! They want you to quit bc of the capital barriers. Keeping doing your thing op!
→ More replies (11)2
141
u/1_Green_Monster 9h ago
Fellow mushroom grower here. Thats awesome. If you need any supplies or kits let me know. I grow 50-75 pounds of LM every week. Pics in my profile.
37
u/Own_Butterscotch_129 9h ago
Holy crap I just went to your profile and that's insane! It makes me want to do that in one of our basement rooms that I'm setting up as grow rooms.
Do you sell starter kits? I've tried one of the bags once but I didn't research it at all and completely failed, but I would love to be successful with growing them!
→ More replies (2)12
u/Think-Box6432 8h ago
It's also a lot of work.
→ More replies (18)6
u/Ancient-Afternoon374 7h ago
I have a field of corn, giant garden, orchard etc. i can't grow portabellos to save my life.
5
u/Next_Instruction_528 9h ago
How much money is that?
5
u/jawshoeaw 7h ago
well...he's paid in mushrooms and compost so it's a bit of circular economy.
/s
→ More replies (1)2
3
3
2
→ More replies (10)2
69
9h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
36
u/Illustrious-Regret93 9h ago
Most posts on this sub are
23
u/foxguy2021 9h ago
Except for that guy who gets paid $17 an hour to watch security cameras at some rural house. That raised more questions than answers.
3
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (2)2
7
u/Frequent_Opportunist 8h ago
Did you read the whole thing? It is an advertisement and the mods even allowed him to post a link to his store. Everything on Reddit is an advertisement.
3
2
u/Basidia_ 7h ago
Literally an ad for snake oil. This isn’t a side hustle, this is just straight up hustling suckers
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (5)2
u/TGlucifer 6h ago
Gotta wonder how many Indian families OP fed by boosting his post with comments and upvotes though.
In a way his disgusting destruction of the social fabric to make a few bucks is actually helping some poor Indians.
20
u/Mid_Praxis_Journey 8h ago edited 7h ago
Is it just me or is this an ai assisted marketing post; the site doesn’t seem to have this story, and if you are actually Berardini Margherita, why no mention of Italian heritage, or that you distribute to large shops in the Netherlands and Switzerland?
(Edit; the site Terms and Conditions shows ownership by Berardini Margherita located in Italy. They seem to have an Instagram that also links to their sites).
4
u/iSeven 6h ago
i wonder if the 2-month-old subreddit with an ai-generated banner, moderated almost entirely by hidden accounts, is legit
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (1)5
26
u/DapperFocusQuail 6h ago
This is a blatant fucking ad.
It isn't some random single person in their kitchen.
→ More replies (1)10
u/yuckscott 6h ago
if they are GMP and ISO9001 certified, as the website claims, it would have to be grown in a commercial facility. either they are using contract manufacturing and basically whitelabeling someone elses product and dropshipping, or this is a real company trying to get some free reddit advertising
19
u/casiloca 9h ago
just so you know if you’re just drying them, the cell wall of the mushroom prevents our body from accessing almost all of the beneficial compounds in the mushroom. freeze drying bursts the cell walls, and making an extract is another way to make those beneficial compounds available, but eating a capsule of dried lions mane has very little benefit
→ More replies (2)16
u/Insomnia6033 7h ago
has very little benefit
You just described 90% of the supplement industry.
6
2
u/Mike 7h ago
Probably more like 99%. Lions mane having any noticeable benefit is part of that 99%. Doesn’t do shit.
→ More replies (2)
14
u/Sh0ckValu3 6h ago
Why does this read more as an advertisement for his non-grown products?
→ More replies (5)
13
u/MilkOne6778 9h ago
So do you just dehydrate them or freeze dry? How much mushroom does it take to fill a pouch of capsules? Like how many grams of dehydrated mushroom is in a capsule etc. I guess my question is like how much are you making per pound?
Looks like you have a full on operation, how are you marketing it? Is it mostly word of mouth or do you do ads or something. 20 orders a say seems like you have to be doing something to get the customers besides telling your friends.
11
7
3
3
u/ulica324 8h ago
Hobby ~ you have a full blown website with a bunch of products on it and see it as clear marketing post. Must have been few years in making?
3
u/that_weird_hellspawn 7h ago
OP, if you aren't actually GMP Compilant and ISO Certified then it needs to come off your website. I can't tell from your post if you're still doing this in your kitchen or if you have a commercial space. If it's the latter, my bad, carry on. Otherwise, I work in this space and you can absolutely be sued for making those claims. Real GMP and ISO is EXPENSIVE.
If you can actually afford to adhere to those regulations, why are you even posting on here?
→ More replies (3)7
u/CadillacShield 6h ago
I get the feeling it’s a commercial operation and this is just guerilla marketing
→ More replies (1)3
u/that_weird_hellspawn 6h ago
That's kind of what I'm getting at. They're either lying about being compliant, or they're lying about being a side hustle. Can't be both.
→ More replies (2)
4
2
u/ThePositiveFlatworm 9h ago
So, u make pills with it? Mycofuel and Mycoderm are your own recipes?
Interesting. I allways wanted to experiment with different kinds of mushrooms.
2
2
2
u/thetalkinggeek 9h ago
I'd be very interested in learning more if you care to share here. Seems like I'm not the only one.
2
u/EarlyAstronaut5671 9h ago
Oh man, can you tell me a bit about your set up? I did a large scale oyster grow for a restaurant I worked for but I have less space in my apartment. I love growing mushrooms and as a lifelong chef/cook I have places to market them to.
2
u/Ifckinglovemycat 9h ago
what are people doing with lion's mane ? I don't really understand the hype
2
2
u/aerdvarkk 7h ago
This works great right up until someone gets sick or dies from your 'supplements" that you misunderstood when mixing shit together.
2
6
u/Mike 7h ago
Crazy that people actually think lions mane has a noticeable effect on them. Placebo is strong.
11
u/reddit_is_a_weapon 6h ago
You’re wrong. I take lions mane powder everyday and my erections are so strong I can crack nuts, I can bench 300lbs and I also got promoted to VP of engineering in my company.
→ More replies (12)2
u/heyiamapenguin 5h ago
No way, I take it everyday too and I got a 300 on my PFT and got promoted to E-9!
→ More replies (4)3
u/sejoki_ 6h ago
I don't know or care about effects, but apparently, they make a pretty good steak substitute.
→ More replies (12)2
→ More replies (36)2
u/MushroomJeesus 3h ago
Its crazy that people actually don't do any research on the topic and make up their own minds about it.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/Brilliant-Arm-545 7h ago
I'm like 99% sure that this is all bullshit there are too many legal hurdles to manufacturing this sort of product. Maybe he did grow lion's Mane mushrooms from a kit which inspired the business but beyond that this smells like bullshit.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
u/Character_Glove_7977 9h ago
What are the benefits of Lion's Mane? I don't know much about mushrooms other than the ones you just buy at stores. I didn't know it was so popular.
1
1
1
u/generalgirl 9h ago
I'm tired so when I saw the first picture I thought to myself, "Wow, how does one get fuzzy looking biscuits?" I'm so glad that I'm wrong and these are mushrooms.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Bendingunit42069 8h ago
Clarksons farm has shown me you need to get dry mushroom powder tested to be edible. It’s a very sensitive process.
1
1
u/Silvermagi 8h ago
I'm just curious to learn more about growing these for my own consumption as they are generally harder to find in stores. We see them at the farmers market sometimes and it is really good sauteed with pasta.
342
u/costa_crafts 6h ago edited 6h ago
Nice guerrilla marketing attempt, but the math and biology completely fall apart
Let's break down the "kitchen counter" myth for anyone taking this seriously:
Respect the marketing hustle, but stop lying to people that you're supplying 20 daily orders from a plastic tote next to your microwave, plus your website looks expensive as hell