A small grow room
in Ōtautahi

Ōtautahi Caps & Cultures is a small mushroom farm in Christchurch growing rare and specialty fungi for people who care what is on the plate. We cultivate pink, blue and grey oyster mushrooms in a purpose-built grow room where climate, humidity and airflow are tuned by hand rather than by volume. Everything is grown in small batches on a low-waste substrate cycle, with no pesticides and minimal packaging.

What we grow goes two ways. Fresh mushrooms are harvested the morning an order goes out and delivered to restaurants, cafés, market stalls and home cooks across Christchurch, so kitchens get produce that is still at its peak. The rest becomes our pantry range — dehydrated mushrooms and mushroom stock powder — so the flavour lasts long after the flush.

We also run a stall at Riverlution Market and Makete in Hagley Park, serving mushroom tacos and chips, and it is where most of our regulars first meet us.

The farm is built by a small team. Sophia Ellaia Rabarra founded Caps & Cultures and leads cultivation, with a NZ Certificate in Horticulture (Level 5) and a focus on sustainability. Vladislav Gaidamakin is co-founder. Together they handle everything from spawn to harvest, packing and market day.