GROWER: MERNDA MUSHROOM FARM
Mushrooms, Memory, and the Long GamE
Before the trucks. Before the stand. Before the relationships that stretch across markets and states, there were mushrooms.
Dark rooms. Damp air. Quiet work.
No glamour. Just consistency, patience, and respect for the process.
That’s where Lemdell’s story begins.
STORIES THAT FEED US
You don’t rush it. You don’t fake it. You learn to read it.
Anthony’s father built his understanding of produce not from spreadsheets or supply chains, but from the ground up, quite literally.
Mushroom farming teaches you things most people never see. Timing is everything. Temperature matters. One small shift and the whole crop changes.
You don’t rush it. You don’t fake it. You learn to read it.
And that knowledge? It doesn’t leave you.
STORIES THAT FEED US
And that’s where the balance comes in.
Fast forward to today, and we’re standing inside one of Costa’s mushroom farms in Victoria, part of a national operation producing upwards of 450 to 500 tonnes every single week. WA. SA. Victoria. Scale that’s hard to comprehend unless you’ve walked the floors yourself.
But here’s the thing, no matter how big an operation gets, the fundamentals don’t change.
“Costa and Lemdell have had a long-standing relationship… easily 30 years plus now, Lemdell are a great partner because they service the independent green grocer, one of the most important markets in the country.”
That connection matters.
Because while Costa grows at scale, Lemdell operates with understanding. We’ve worn the t-shirt. We know what it takes to grow it, harvest it, move it, and sell it.
STORIES THAT FEED US
We work with some of the biggest and best farming operations in the country.
but our approach has always stayed the same: protect the grower, support the buyer.
Mushrooms are a perfect example. They’re not flashy. They don’t scream for attention. But get them right, fresh, firm, clean, and they deliver depth, consistency, and real value across retail and foodservice.
From independent grocers to restaurants, from everyday cooking to high-end menus, mushrooms carry weight.
But the market has changed.
Wholesale isn’t what it was 20 years ago. It’s faster. More competitive. More demanding. As James puts it, agents have had to evolve, diversify product ranges, service new markets, look beyond the traditional buyer.
STORIES THAT FEED US
We’ve done exactly that.
Not by losing who we are — but by building on it.
Because when you understand the product at its roots, you move differently. You buy better. You sell better. You stand behind it with confidence.
And that’s what this story is really about.
From a mushroom shed to a national supply chain.
From family farming to feeding a market.
We haven’t forgotten where we came from.
And that’s why we still know this product better than most.
