Oyster & King

What Oyster & King does

Oyster & King is a privately held specialty mushroom distribution company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was established by David Xiao, one of the children of Guoping Xiao, a former University of British Columbia professor who initiated a mushroom cultivation business in 1998 that was formalized as Xiao Family Farm in Cloverdale, BC, around 2000. The company sources farm-grown specialty mushrooms (including White Pearl, Blue, and King Oysters, Maitake, Shiitake, Portobello, Shimeji White and Brown, and Lion's Mane) from Xiao Family Farm, and also distributes wild seasonal varieties (Morels, Chanterelles, Cauliflower, Lobster, and Pine mushrooms) foraged in British Columbia and the Yukon. Product has been extended beyond mushrooms to complementary local produce such as blueberries, Boston butter lettuce, and living microgreens, sourced from additional partner farms in Delta.

The company operates a direct farm-to-restaurant supply chain, with pickup from partner farms the night before delivery and use of specially designed packaging to preserve freshness. Its primary go-to-market is enterprise field sales to chefs and restaurants across Vancouver's lower mainland, supplemented by two direct-to-consumer channels: a weekly presence at the UBC Market and a home delivery service offering quantity tiers from 0.5 lb to 100 lb. The core team is described as approximately seven first- and second-generation immigrant farmers, lifelong traders and pickers of mushrooms, and no external investors, parent company, or holding structure has been disclosed.

Revenue is generated through wholesale transaction-based pricing on mushroom and produce sales; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed and wholesale orders are quote-based. The company maintains a low-overhead marketing posture built primarily on organic Instagram content, with no proprietary technology platform, no app, no API surface, and no evidence of digital tooling beyond a website and social channels. Ownership remains concentrated within the founding Xiao family, with no recorded funding rounds, acquisitions, or leadership changes since founding.

Name

Oyster & King

Legal name

Oyster and King

Website

https://oysterandking.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Oyster & King is a Vancouver-based, founder-led specialty mushroom distributor founded in 2016, sourcing farm-grown and wild-foraged mushrooms from Xiao Family Farm and partner growers to serve chefs, restaurants, and select direct consumers across Vancouver's lower mainland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Mushroom Distribution

NAICS

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers (424480), Mushroom Production (111411)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Mushroom & Fungi Production (Indoor/Protected) (AFAGAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Wild & Cultivated Mushroom Foraging and Production (AFAMAFAD)

Keywords

• Specialty mushroom distribution
• Farm-to-restaurant supply
• Wholesale produce distribution
• Gourmet mushroom varieties
• Fresh mushroom wholesale

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Mushroom Distribution: Oyster & King generates revenue through wholesale distribution of farm-grown and wild mushrooms to restaurants and chefs in Vancouver's lower mainland. They also sell to individual consumers at the UBC Market and offer home delivery in various quantities (5lb, 10lb, 20lb, 40lb, 100lb).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Oyster & King is a Vancouver-based mushroom distribution company that supplies farm-grown and wild seasonal specialty mushrooms directly to chefs and restaurants across the Vancouver lower mainland. Mushrooms are sourced from partner farms including Xiao Family Farm in Cloverdale, B.C. and other local growers, with produce picked up the night before deliveries to ensure freshness. The company also sells to individual consumers through the UBC Market and a home delivery service offered in quantities from 0.5 lb to 100 lb.

Product overview

Oyster & King is a farm-to-restaurant mushroom distribution company that operates as a single unified service rather than a platform-based architecture. Founded in 2016, the company distributes two categories of mushrooms sourced from the Xiao Family Farm in Cloverdale, B.C. (established 1998) to Vancouver's lower mainland restaurant scene. Farm Grown Mushrooms (White Pearl Oyster, Blue Oyster, King Oyster, Maitake, Shiitake, Portobello, Shimeji White, Shimeji Brown, and Lion's Mane) are available year-round, while Wild Seasonal Mushrooms (Morelles, Chanterelles, Cauliflower, Lobster, and Pines) are foraged and distributed when in season. The company primarily serves chefs and restaurants, with individual customers able to purchase at the UBC Market. Freshness is maintained through specially designed cardboard packaging and quick delivery methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farm Grown Mushrooms A year-round assortment of specialty mushroom varieties grown at partner farms (including Xiao Family Farm) and distributed fresh to chefs, restaurants, and individual consumers. Includes White Pearl Oyster, Blue Oyster, King Oyster, Maitake, Shiitake, Portobello, Shimeji White, Shimeji Brown, and Lion's Mane varieties.
• Wild Seasonal Mushrooms A seasonal assortment of wild foraged mushroom varieties, available only during their natural harvest windows and distributed to restaurants. Includes Morelles, Chanterelles, Cauliflower, Lobster, and Pines varieties.
• Wholesale Mushroom Distribution to Restaurants and Chefs Primary B2B distribution service delivering fresh farm-grown and wild mushrooms directly from local partner farms to chef-owned restaurants in the Vancouver lower mainland. Sales inquiries are handled via a contact form on the website, and produce is picked up from farms the night before delivery to ensure freshness.
• UBC Market Retail Sales Secondary retail channel through which individual consumers can purchase farm-fresh mushrooms in person at the UBC Market in Vancouver, including blueberries and other produce.
• Home Delivery Service Home delivery service for individual customers offering farm-grown mushrooms and other local produce in multiple quantity tiers (0.5 lb, 1 lb, 5 lb, 10 lb, 20 lb, 40 lb, and 100 lb), with specially designed cardboard packaging to preserve freshness during transit.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bloom Family FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Bloom Family Farm, located in Cloverdale, B.C., is the primary supplier of mushrooms to Oyster & King. The farm started 25 years ago as a local family farm with a passion for specialty mushrooms and has grown to become Oyster & King's direct farm-to-restaurant supplier. Oyster & King has been supplying top-notch mushrooms to Vancouver's lower mainland from this farm since 2016.
• Xiao Family FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000Xiao Family Farm is a family-operated business started in 1998 by Guoping Xiao, a former UBC professor, and officially established in 2000. The farm cultivates gourmet and medicinal mushrooms. David Xiao, one of Guoping's children, founded Oyster & King to create a distribution network for the farm's mushrooms, strengthening the connection between consumers and producers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Highline Mushrooms: Canada's largest mushroom grower, operating multiple farms and supplying major grocery and foodservice channels nationally. Provides the broadline white and specialty mushroom competition that any B2B mushroom distributor in Canada must price and differentiate against.
• Gordon Food Service: Major broadline foodservice distributor serving restaurants and chefs across North America with a produce and specialty items catalogue. The incumbent channel alternative Oyster & King must win against for restaurant purchasing decisions.
• FreshPoint (Sysco): Sysco's specialty produce distribution arm serving restaurants across North America, including the Vancouver market. Represents the broadline foodservice produce distributor Oyster & King competes against for chef accounts.

Direct peers

• Small World Mushrooms (Ravensong Shiitake): Small-batch specialty mushroom grower supplying restaurants and farmers markets in Western Canada with shiitake and other gourmet varieties. Closely parallels Oyster & King in scale, channel mix (chefs + farmers market), and product positioning.
• Cascadia Mushrooms: Specialty organic mushroom farm in the Pacific Northwest growing gourmet varieties (lions mane, oyster, chestnut) for restaurants and direct customers. Comparable to Oyster & King in product mix and farm-to-chef positioning in an overlapping regional market.
• Champ's Mushrooms: One of Western Canada's largest specialty and conventional mushroom growers, based in British Columbia. Champ's supplies fresh mushrooms to retailers and foodservice across the same Pacific Northwest footprint where Oyster & King competes for chef and restaurant accounts.

Emerging players

• Smallhold: US-based operator of distributed indoor mushroom farms supplying restaurants and retailers with specialty varieties under a subscription/regional model. Closely mirrors Oyster & King's farm-to-chef thesis but at larger scale and in US metros.
• MyForest Foods: North American company building mycelium- and mushroom-based consumer food products. Adjacent to Oyster & King's cultivated mushroom business and signals where fresh-specialty mushroom supply could be vertically integrated downstream.

Others

• Fungi Perfecti: US-based company founded by Paul Stamets, producing medicinal mushroom supplements and mycology products. Thematically adjacent to Oyster & King given its Lion's Mane positioning and the broader specialty/functional mushroom consumer trend.

Regional players

• Whitecrest Mushrooms: Canadian mushroom farm located in Ontario that supplies fresh and specialty mushrooms across Canada. Comparable as a domestic producer/distributor in the same mushroom category, though not operating in Oyster & King's western geography.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/oysterandking
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oyster-king-vancouver

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Oyster & King