About Us

Cap N' Stem Origins

Maine Cap N Stem Started in 2014 cultivating a variety of gourmet mushrooms from spore to store below the streets of Portland Maine. Within a year our fresh mushroom production expanded from less than 200 sq ft to a 3000 sq ft facility in Westbrook Maine.

Between 2015 and 2016 the decentralized micro mushroom industry began exploding all across the country and at the time it was integral for each of these small farms to develop their own cultures, spawn and fruiting substrate to grow fresh mushrooms and supply a self built distribution system for sales to farmers markets, restaurants and wholesalers. In 2016 Maine Cap N Stem decided to drop out of the fresh mushroom market all together and work directly with these farms all across the country to supply their growing mushroom demand with Ready To Fruit substrate.

This transition set a business pivot into motion as we became to first national producer and distributor of Certified Organic Mushroom Substrate for small and large farms across the continental USA. In 2016 we moved to our current 20,000+ sq ft facility in Gardiner Maine and began producing and supplying farms from Portland Maine to Portland Oregon with an easier scalable option to grow by skipping the intensive lab work to produce their own spawn and substrate and simply focus on fruiting and selling fresh mushrooms. Within the last 5 years we have proven the model to work and continue to support the growth and development of fresh mushroom farms around the states.

From 2019 to 2020 Maine Cap N Stem developed a state of the art spawn production facility and expanded our offerings from simply substrate to spawn and culture products as well as “combination substrate pellets” for farms to forward integrate and scale up into their own substrate production for a balance of options and supply chain diversification allowing a higher level of control for each farms independent focus.

With each year that passes as we continue to grow, innovate and develop, our goal remains the same: Help independent farms sustainably grow to supply the massive demand for fresh mushrooms across all market platforms!

Check out a virtual tour of our warehouse!

Erik Lomen

Our fearless leader and co-owner of the company; Erik is the mastermind behind all the daily insanity at Cap N' Stem. He consistently generates new innovative ideas to enhance our company! In summer, Erik enjoys riding his motorcycle all across Maine.

Tyler Crawford

Our head manager Tyler is constantly pacing back and forth fretting about 'The Team' meeting 'The Quota'. When he's not doing that he'll be overseeing 'The Team' and all of our production! Tyler likes Sci-fi, his wife and his baby.

Sam Edwards-Jenks

Our inventory manager and forklift master! If you're a local mushroom farm then you've likely met Sam, as he is usually loading up our customers. Sam likes making things, doing stuff and hanging with his family!

Gregor J

Head of research and development here, Gregor is usually assisting in our spawn lab in Gardiner or working on special projects in our research lab in Lewiston. Gregor likes Jiu Jitsu, hunting and psychedelic chemistry!

Zach H

Zach is our substrate production manager, meaning every week he directly oversees the production of all our ready to fruit substrate blocks. Zach likes the woods, fried chicken, and "chillin with his girl."

Damon H

Our spawn cooker and grain mixer, Damon makes the spawn world go round at Cap N' Stem. Every morning he cooks up a fresh batch of grain that then goes to the lab for inoculation! Damon likes making music, hunting, and ice fishing.

Khanh H

Khanh is our packing manager for spawn production. He oversees the packaging process for our spawn production to ensure optimal quality and timely delivery. Khanh likes rice, potatoes and video games.

Kayla S

Kayla is in charge of the substrate mix, her speed on the fenrir is the reason we are able to produce so many ready to fruit substrate bags! Kayla likes Kesha, her pets, and colorful eyeshadow.

Cathy K

Cathy multitasks as our retail manager and production worker. She works to ensure timely and accurate order fulfillment for online customers that order through this website! Cathy likes working on and riding motorcycles, all of her pets, and working on her creative hobbies.

Lilia V

Lilia is a substrate production worker and also the creator of this website. She likes warm weather, cool rocks, and knitting.

Rob E

Rob works on the spawn side of things here, from cooking and mixing the grain to inoculating the spawn in the lab. Rob likes many different genres of music, anime, and video games.

Peter P

Peter primarily operates within the spawn lab, either engaged in culture plate production or spawn inoculation, typically accompanied by heavy metal music. Peter likes horror movies, cool jackets and veggies.

Edna

Edna is the official mascot of Maine Cap N' Stem! She keeps all the workers in line and is constantly barking for treats.

Amanda G

Amanda is a part of our customer service team. All pallet orders go directly through her so that she can notify us on what we need to put into production every week. Amanda likes peanut butter, warm socks and her dogs.

Kennedy B

Kennedy is part of our customer service team and is usually the one answering your phone calls! Kennedy likes tadpoles, ice cream sandwiches and birthmarks.