Wiz Khalifa is probably known best for two things: his chart-topping songs like ‘See You Again,’ and rolling an endless fleet of submarine-sized blunts on social media. But Khalifa is also a father, gym rat, and mental health advocate. And now, Khalifa is after a new title: mushroom mogul.
Today, he’s launching his new direct-to-consumer mushroom-growing brand called Mistercap’s. It sells $27.95 grow-your-own mushroom kits so you can have oyster, shitake, and lion’s mane mushrooms ready to eat in your home. The company hopes “to increase interest in the health benefits of mushrooms by creating more ways for people to incorporate them into their lives, nutrition, and wellbeing,” according to the press release, and 2% of all purchases support the pro-mushroom educational nonprofit Fungi Foundation.
“Mushrooms are something that’s growing in the research space, consumption space, and it’s a big topic in mental space. There’s just a lot going on with them,” says Khalifa (whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz). “And being ahead of the curve in things I really believe in has always been part of who I am and my brand.”
Mushrooms are booming for culinary use and wellness supplements alike, promising benefits ranging from brain health to lowering cholesterol. Specialty mushroom sales (basically, everything other than white button mushrooms) increased by 32% during the 2021–2022 growing season, according to the USDA. Meanwhile, psilocybin mushrooms—the hallucinogenic mushrooms—are finding traction as a legitimate method to treat mental illness, all while becoming more palatable to the law. Voters in California just decriminalized possession and personal use of psychedelic mushrooms this month, and the writing is on the wall when even GE is building mushroom-growing appliances.
Read more at fastcompany.com