The first mushroom-based soda is born in Italy (but don't worry, it doesn't taste like mushrooms that much)
The world of zero- and low-alcohol beverages is revealing a remarkable, and perhaps somewhat unexpected, creativity.
FUN-GÒ Soda: Who's Behind the Piedmontese Shiitake Can?
The initiative is based on the Fluffy Revolution initiative, an online community with over 700,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube that focuses—with a touch of humor—on health, plant-based products, and the environment. This will be the first product from this organization, which has partnered with three other Piedmontese companies—Fungaia, an indoor mushroom cultivation laboratory; RAM, a farm in Moncalieri; and TIBI, another Piedmontese company specializing in fermented soft drinks. Shiitake mushrooms, an ingredient that wasn't widely known until about twenty years ago, are now the basis for soda, although obviously the beverage you drink in a can doesn't just contain that.
The first Italian soda made from mushrooms
"We work primarily with bacteria," explains Manuela Sanseverino of TIBI, one of the creators of this new product. "We continue to believe that, like bacteria, we humans can do the same and collaborate. We met with four companies at a trade show, and we discovered we all had the same interest: to introduce the wonderful world of functional mushrooms, but in a new, ready-to-drink way, and to a non-specialist audience." She is keen to emphasize that the world of mushrooms is an integral part of the agricultural fabric of Piedmont's history. "We didn't want to simply create a new drink," explains the Fluffy Revolution team. "The idea was to present a different way of looking at ingredients, demonstrating that even a mushroom can become the protagonist of a pop product, capable of intriguing and surprising. We had a secret dream: to create our own product, but a real one, not just another marketing ploy," explains Fluffy Revolution.
Zero alcohol, very little sugar
This is where the mushroom cultivation by Fungaia comes from, followed by the ginger, a rosemary infusion by RAM, and finally the kombucha-like acidifier by TIBI, which in this case, however, will not be the protagonist. All guided by the idea of Fluffy Revolution. "Does it taste like mushrooms? It has a mushroom aftertaste, offset 90% by the ginger. It had to be light, otherwise it would have felt like broth, to put it simply," says Manuela, laughing. "For us, the mushroom has to come out so that you can taste the umami part." The drink can be consumed either from the fridge or off the shelf, and can be used in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixes. This led to the creation of the first drink, a Mushroom Paloma, created with Davide Pinto of Affini, also in Turin.
Where does FUN-GÒ come from that doesn't taste like mushrooms at all?
"It seems like a very unique product; it's something truly new for Italy. But abroad, mushroom-based beers and functional mushroom drinks have been making their way for years. Thanks to the properties of shiitake mushrooms, these drinks are naturally based, but we can also say they have energizing properties," explains Sanseverino, who has already reported very positive feedback for the launch in August. Therefore, FUN-GÒ reflects both a global trend and a desire to bring a natural product to the market that can showcase the properties and flavor of mushrooms. The whole thing also features colorful, linear, and impactful graphics, in line with the Fluffy Revolution communication strategy, a cute mascot with the image of a mushroom, and three different types of graphics on the cans, all of which correspond to the same product. Why? "Collect them all."