NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Have you ever gone to the grocery store looking for one item in particular and felt the frustration of the item being out of stock? Has it ever happened more than once?
North Kansas City resident Robin Moore noticed this repeatedly when trying to find fresh mushrooms at grocery stores — so she decided to do something about it. She started her own mushroom-growing business, known as MyCo Planet in North Kansas City.
“I couldn’t find the variety of mushrooms that I wanted at the grocery stores here locally, so I started growing them myself," Moore said.
MyCo Planet is growing about 500 pounds of mushrooms per week for Kansas City. It supplies for more than 30 restaurants, some small grocery stores, various farmer's markets and more.
“We are the largest mushroom farm in Kansas City," Moore said.
Moore's team does it all in her North Kansas City warehouse — from bagging, to incubating, to packaging and selling.
She's also got her own storefront at her warehouse where people can buy things like their own grow-at-home mushroom kits.
She says something else blossomed when she started her business.
“I got to create jobs in our community, which is something I didn’t really think about when I started my own business," she said. “I want to create more jobs for people.”
Moore said she's in the process of getting her business's organic certification, too.