Love Mushrooms
Smith Feeney, one of the founders and directors of Love Mushrooms, talks to OM about what makes mushrooms magical
Can you introduce yourself and the story behind Love Mushrooms?
I’m Smith Feeney, co-founder and director of Love Mushrooms, based at Marcassie Farm in Scotland. My fascination with mycology began over a decade ago, driven by curiosity about how mushrooms support both nature and human health. Love Mushrooms grew from that passion, not as a trend-led brand, but as a grassroots business built from the soil up.
We launched during the pandemic, developing our grow facilities and lab before selling at farmers’ markets across Northeast Scotland. Today, we’ve grown into one of the UK’s leading functional mushroom brands, stocked in Holland & Barrett, Boots, CLF and Natural Dispensary. Despite the scale, we’ve stayed true to our roots: education, innovation and high-quality products people can trust.
What makes functional mushrooms so powerful?
Functional mushrooms aren’t eaten for flavour, they’re used for how they make you feel. For centuries, they’ve supported energy, focus, immunity, sleep and stress resilience. What makes them unique is that they work with your body over time, rather than delivering a quick spike like caffeine or sugar.
There’s also growing scientific interest in their benefits, which is why more people are discovering them now. We see them as tools for steady, sustainable wellbeing.
How do you decide which mushrooms to feature in your products?
Our core range centres on three mushrooms we know and love: Lion’s Mane, Reishi and Cordyceps. Each supports different wellness goals. Lion’s Mane is widely associated with cognitive support and mental clarity, for example, while Cordyceps is linked to energy, stamina and circulation.
As awareness is still developing, we formulate products around ‘need states’ — such as focus, sleep or stress — rather than simply listing mushroom names. We work with professional nutritionists and scientists, including an Oxford-based team, to combine mushrooms with complementary vitamins, minerals and adaptogens for targeted support.
What are your bestsellers?
Our Lion’s Mane range — particularly the liquid drops and capsules — consistently leads. With greater awareness around brain and mental health, Lion’s Mane has really resonated. Customers love the convenience and taste of the drops, which makes it easier to build into a daily ritual.
You’ve expanded into women’s health and skincare — what inspired that?
Innovation is one of our core values. Our Empower range, developed with an Oxford science team, supports menopause, perimenopause and PMS. It combines functional mushrooms with ingredients such as saffron, sea moss and ashwagandha, and has received the GenM MTick accreditation. In skincare, we’ve introduced ingredients like Tremella (Snow Mushroom), known for its impressive hydration properties, and White Truffle for antioxidant support. Mushrooms offer powerful benefits beyond supplements, and we wanted to explore that potential.
What’s next for Love Mushrooms?
The functional mushroom space is still in its early stages, with huge opportunity ahead. Our ambition is to become the UK’s most trusted, effective and accessible functional mushroom brand. As awareness grows, we’ll continue focusing on quality, affordability and education — helping more people discover the benefits of these remarkable fungi.
Om Magazine
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