Meet Dirtea And The Brothers Brewing The Functional Mushroom Revolution

Forbes

a day ago

Dirtea founders and brothers Simon (L) and Andrew (R) Salter
Super-successful serial entrepreneurs, brothers Simon and Andrew Salter – Andrew was a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 class of 2020 for the work of their Limelyte culture and innovation studio; unfortunately, older brother Simon aged out– suffered from a malady common to those in their profession: burnout.
Looking for a safe, effective and natural solution, they discovered that functional mushrooms delivered the health and wellbeing benefits they were searching for. And being serial entrepreneurs, they were wired to bring their discovery to the world through a new venture – Dirtea – their first product-centric business.
'We started Dirtea because nothing we tried fixed the burnout issue, not coffee, not supplements, none of the wellness fads. Once we found mushrooms, we couldn't find a brand that we trusted or that spoke our language. So we built Dirtea to be trusted, to be potent, efficacious and the best functional mushroom products in the world in terms of quality,' Andrew explained.
London-based Dirtea launched in 2016 and has made a big splash across the pond with its range of mushroom-infused coffee, matcha, chai and cacao blends, as well as powder supplements and gummies.
Dirtea is carried in nearly 2,000 stores in the U.K., including Selfridge, Harrods, Boots, Planet Organic and SoulCycle and is offered in numerous coffee shops. A notable example is the Dirtea 'Feel Good Bar' in Selfridges London, which started as a pop-up but earned the right to become a full-time concession.
While Dirtea is available to U.S. consumers via its website and Amazon, it's readying to launch the 'Shroom Boom' on this side of the pond. Starting this fall, Dirtea gummies will be featured in 750 Vitamin Shoppe stores nationwide.
Physical stores serve a dual purpose. They are a platform to educate consumers about the health benefits of functional mushrooms and are a central hub to foster the Dirtea community, leveraging their experience launching the #FeelingNuts campaign against testicular cancer that went viral and the digital-concierge service Velocity Black, which was acquired by Capital One in 2023.
For thousands of years, functional mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese and India's Ayurveda medicine, but only recently has science caught up with the healing power of mushrooms.
The number of scientific papers published on functional mushrooms has exploded since the turn of the century, according to the National Library of Medicine's database. In 2000, it catalogued 230 papers. In 2024, there were more than 1,100 papers recorded.
All that scientific work proving the effectiveness of mushrooms to boost immunity, enhance cognitive function, reduce stress and give an energy boost has crossed over into the mainstream.
Fortune Business Insights estimates the global functional mushroom market reached $31 billion in 2024, will grow to nearly $34 billion this year and top $60 billion by 2032 at a compound-annual-growth rate of 9%.
However, it could grow faster if the brothers are as successful as past history suggests. In 2014, the brothers launched the #FeelingNuts campaign to educate men about the early warning signs of testicular cancer that went viral with a billion people, including numerous high-profile celebrities, behind it and that was spun off as a British television special.
Dirtea offers the power-five functional mushrooms each targeting specific wellness and health benefits:
And each Dirtea formula is fortified with a nutritional supplement to give an extra kick. For example, Chaga, Cordyceps and Reishi products come with vitamin B12 and Lion's Mane and Tremella delivers a dose of zinc.
Dirtea's chief science officer, Dr. Tara Swart, renown neuroscientist who holds both an M.D. and a Ph.D., assures all products meet the highest clinical standards and guides development of new products.
Beyond packing a health and wellbeing punch for consumers, the brothers know people have to experience the benefits to become Dirtea converts. That's where the Selfrigdes' Feel Good Bar and broadening distribution through branded experiences comes in.
'In business, we're known for building social movements and campaigns around consumer brands and causes as well,' Andrew said, adding, 'We've always leveraged entertainment and culture because we think that's the best way to build cult like followings.'
For example, they just launched the first wellness nightclub pop-up experience in London, called the Dirtea Reset Club, that blends, education, sauna, music, culture into a healthy nightclub experience. 'We're giving people a chance to experience real dopamine so you wake up the next day feeling good, even better that before, not the fake kind you get spending time in a regular nightclub where you feel awful the morning after,' Simon shared.
They have plans to take the Dirtea Reset Club on the road in New York and Los Angeles, 'It's a way to bring together a community,' Andrew said, noting that bringing people together into the Dirtea community is an essential part of the company's mission.
Simon cites a study, also referenced in the 2023 U.S. Surgeon General's report 'Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,' that found loneliness and social isolation can have the same negative health effects as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and its mortality impact is even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.
'Building community is our North Star and we want to give back to our community as much as they are giving to us as subscribers,' Simon continued.
Dirtea thrives on its subscription business – what it calls the Dirtea Tribe. And to keep it building, the goal is to be more than just a wellness brand, but to make Dirtea a part of an individual's daily wellness ritual.
'Were not trying to be a wellness brand or a supplement. We're building a next generation of daily rituals that are powered by mushrooms, backed by science and designed for a culture running on empty,' Andrew explained. 'The reason why a brand like Dirtea can exist today is because everyone is running on empty. We've normalized burnout. We wake up with caffeine. We wind down with wine. We sleep with pills. It's a vicious cycle.'
They see Dirtea as the way to break that vicious cycle and turn it into a virtuous circle for health and wellbeing. 'We're not here to biohack you. We're here to help you feel more like your best self,' he continued.
Dirtea is backed by some heavy hitters. Roxie Nafousi, self-development coach and author of the best-selling Manifest: 7 Steps to Building Your Best Life, is an investor and brand ambassador, as is famed adventurer and television personality Bear Grylss.
Grylss is an outspoken Christian, so I believe him when he says: 'I was a total convert. I had never felt that focus. I can genuinely hand on heart say that over the last year I've never felt so alive, so focused, happy and calm. But above all, I love what we stand for, bringing good health and natural healing to the masses.'
Plus, Dirtea has partnerships with Stella McCartney, Barry's Bootcamp and Atis cosmetics brand, and the brothers have Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba and Charlotte Tilbury, to name a few, on speed dial.
'We spent our careers building cultural moments and movements,' Andrew said, and the brothers brought that expertise to Dirtea. 'We're one of the leading wellness brands in the U.K. We've built a huge brand here now we're expanding globally and the U.S. market is, without a doubt, the biggest opportunity for us.
'Now with Vitamin Shoppe as our launch partner, we are ready to build the Dirtea movement online digitally and direct-to-consumer and soon we'll be the hallmark mushroom brand at Vitamin Shoppe,' he concluded.