Caps & Cultures mushroom markCaps & CulturesGourmet Fungi

Ōtautahi · Christchurch · gourmet mushrooms · small batch

Picked at dawn,
on your table
by dark.

Rare specialty mushrooms grown in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, harvested to order and delivered to kitchens that care about what's on the plate.

Partner with usFind us this week

Harvested

the morning you order

Grown in

Ōtautahi, Christchurch

Batches

small, by hand

Fresh grey and pink oyster mushrooms on cream linen in natural light

Harvested to order

Pink · Blue · Grey

Ōtautahi grown✦Harvested to order✦Pink · Blue · Grey oyster✦Riverlution Market✦Makete vegan night market✦Dehydrated & stock powder✦
Ōtautahi grown✦Harvested to order✦Pink · Blue · Grey oyster✦Riverlution Market✦Makete vegan night market✦Dehydrated & stock powder✦
The Origin

Our Story

Harvesting oyster mushrooms by hand in the grow room

Harvest mornings · Ōtautahi

Ōtautahi Caps & Cultures was born from watching an idea become something real. Founder Sophia Ellaia Rabarra, working at the University of Canterbury, was continually inspired by the people around her — researchers and students turning passion projects into thriving businesses. Armed with a NZ Certificate in Horticulture (Level 5) and years of growing her own food, she saw a gap no one else had filled — and had the courage to fill it.

Driven by a deep love for sustainability, Sophia built a grow room where science meets craft. The result: rare specialty mushrooms, grown in Ōtautahi, harvested to order, and delivered to kitchens that care about what's on the plate.

“Driven by a deep love for sustainability, Sophia saw a gap no one else had filled — and had the courage to fill it.”
— Sophia Ellaia Rabarra, Founder

Founder & Head Cultivator · Co-founder

Sophia Ellaia Rabarra & Vladislav Gaidamakin

Current Varieties

What We Grow

Three stunning oyster mushroom varieties — each with its own character, colour, and flavour. Grown in small batches in Christchurch at their natural peak, never forced.

Pink Oyster mushrooms

Pink Oyster

Vivid • bacon-like warmth

Blue Oyster mushrooms

Blue Oyster

Earthy depth • cool air flush

Grey Oyster mushrooms

Grey Oyster

Silky • mild • chef’s staple

In the grow room

Shiitake, Lion's Mane & rare cultivars

More Coming

Trialling now

Harvested to order · wholesale to kitchens, fresh by the bag at market

The Advantage

Why Partner
With Us

A small grow room means we can promise things a warehouse cannot — starting with what time the mushrooms were cut.

Harvested the morning of your order

What arrives at your pass was still growing at dawn. Freshness you can taste and smell.

Small-batch, never mass-produced

Limited supply means your kitchen gets priority access before the next restaurant on the list.

A story worth telling

Local, sustainable, grown by hand in Ōtautahi. Your guests will want to know where it came from.

Zero pesticides, circular growing

Low-waste substrate cycles, minimal packaging, and a genuine commitment to the land.

No PesticidesCircular GrowingLocally OwnedHarvested to Order

Trusted kitchens

Christchurch chefs cook with our mushrooms.

Local restaurants and cafés take them by the case, cut the same morning.

Where to find us

Two markets,
two very different nights.

We are at Riverlution every week without fail. Makete is occasional — we are not there every month, so ask before you make a special trip.

Riverlution Market

Weekly · Christchurch

Riverlution Market

Our regular Saturday stall. Fresh oyster mushrooms by the bag or the cluster, plus jars of dehydrated mushrooms and stock powder for the pantry.

Fresh mushroomsPantry jars
Makete — Vegan Night Market

Occasional · Hagley Park

Makete — Vegan Night Market

Nights under the trees with the city’s best vegan food. When we are there we cook on site: oyster mushroom chips straight from the fryer and smoky mushroom tacos made to order.

Hot foodTacos & chips
At the market

Makete nights:
tacos & chips.

Once a month the fryers come out. Everything is cooked in front of you, on the night, from the same mushrooms we cut that morning — which is why there is usually a queue by seven.

Smoky oyster mushroom tacos

Vegan

Crispy mushroom chips

Vegan

Cash & card · while the batch lasts

Oyster mushroom tacos at the night market
Crispy oyster mushroom chips in a paper cone

Vegan

Everything on the stall is plant based, cooked fresh on site.

Jars of dehydrated oyster mushrooms and mushroom stock powder
The pantry

The same mushrooms,
kept for later.

A good flush does not always sell out in a day, and that is where the jars come in. Everything is dried low and slow in small batches, so nothing is wasted and the depth stays in the mushroom.

Dehydrated oyster mushrooms

Whole dried clusters. Rehydrate in warm water for twenty minutes — keep the soaking liquid, it is stock.

Mushroom stock powder

Milled from dried mushrooms and nothing else. A heaped spoonful in hot water makes an instant savoury broth.

Jars available at every market stall · ask about mixed pantry boxes

From the grow room

@capsandcultures

Pink oyster mushrooms in close detail
Crispy mushroom chips
Blue oyster mushrooms
Harvesting by hand
The market stall at dawn
Get in touch

Want a box for
your kitchen?

Cafés, restaurants and regulars — tell us what you need and roughly when. Most orders are harvested the morning they go out, so everything arrives at its peak.

sophiarabara.gls@gmail.com +64 27 4540675DM @capsandcultures See this week's harvest