The mushroom obsession is booming and Mushroom Squared is here to prove it. Crafted from superior mushrooms and made for everyone, Mushroom Squared patties are rich in protein, high in fiber, filled with antioxidants and offer health benefits such as boosted immunity, stabilized insulin levels, and cognitive support without chemicals or imitation meat tactics. In my exclusive interview with CEO Shekhar Patel, he delves into his background, his innovative brand, and more.
Thank you for joining us. You have quite an interesting background. Please tell us about yourself.
I am a PhD-trained food technologist and entrepreneur with about 25 years of experience spanning some of the world’s most demanding organizations, including PepsiCo, Wyeth/Nestlé Nutrition, Siemens Healthcare, Quest Diagnostics, and Panacea Biotec. My doctorate is in Biosystems Engineering, and I also hold an executive certificate from the Wharton School. Beyond the corporate career, I am a published researcher in peer-reviewed journals, a named inventor on U.S. patents in food processing technology, and was the President of ICCS USA Inc., for 12 years. ICCS is a UN ECOSOC-affiliated organization that has convened leaders across more than 50 countries around intercultural dialogue and indigenous cultural preservation. Today I am the Founder and CEO of Mushroom Squared, a New York-based food company I built to bring genuine functional nutrition to everyday consumers, not as a supplement, not as a powder, but as real food you can cook in a pan and enjoy at your table.
Why would we want to implement Mushroom Squared into our diet and what are your most popular products?
Most of what passes for “healthy” plant-based food today is highly processed, bound together with synthetic gums and fillers, and contains only trace amounts of any functional ingredient. We built Mushroom Squared to fix that. Our flagship product, the Maitake Super Mushroom Patty, is built on a base of approximately one-third whole maitake mushroom by weight. That means every serving delivers a meaningful, biologically active dose of beta-glucans and prebiotic fiber, not just a label claim. The patty also provides about 14 grams of protein, no CMC (no synthetic binders).
We have three SKUs, each formulated to a specific wellness target. Cognitive Harmony pairs maitake with 2,000 mg of organic lion’s mane to support focus and neurological health. Gut-Heart Balance combines maitake with prebiotic fiber for digestive and cardiovascular support. Metabolic Wellness is our lowest-calorie option at 90 calories, no added oil, designed to complement metabolic health goals. All three cook straight from frozen, in a pan or on a grill, in minutes.
What sets this brand apart from others and will you be producing any new products?
A few things, and they are genuinely structural rather than marketing language. First, whole maitake mushroom is ingredient number one in every patty, at roughly one-third of the total mass. That is unheard of in this category. Second, we contain zero CMC, which are the synthetic binders found in virtually every competing product. Third, we are our own manufacturer. We do not contract out our process. That means quality stays in our hands and the formulation integrity I designed is the formulation integrity the consumer receives.
On new products, yes. We have been developing a line of functional beverages using maitake cold-water extract as the base, blended with botanicals from our own inventory. The three concepts we are working toward are a Cognitive Harmony Shot, a Metabolic Wellness Shot, and a Gut-Heart Calm Sipping Tea. These will be positioned as acidified functional beverages, and we are working with Cornell’s food science team on the technical validation.
Working in the wellness industry for so many years, do you have any health tips or habits that you could share with us?
The most important thing I have learned, honestly, is to be deeply skeptical of anything that artificially separates a nutrient from its food matrix and sells it back to you at a premium. The science on whole-food nutrition versus isolated purified supplements is clear: context matters. The other compounds in a whole food, the fiber, the co-factors, the things we may not even have names for yet, they change how your body receives and uses the headline ingredient.
My practical advice is eat recognizable food. Read ingredient lists, not just marketing panels. If an ingredient list reads like a chemistry exam, put it back. Beyond that, I think consistency beats intensity across the board, whether it is nutrition, exercise, or sleep. I have run demanding roles at major corporations and built a startup simultaneously, and the non-negotiables for me are sleep and whole foods. Everything else is negotiable.
Just for fun. When you are not eating mushroom patties do you have a favorite meal that you cook and why is this your go-to dish?
Growing up in India and having lived and worked across the US for decades, my go-to comfort meal sits at exactly that intersection. I love a well-made “dal” (lentils) with fresh roti or rice, the kind of meal where the dal has cooked long enough that everything is deeply savory. Sometimes I love to drink the “dal”. It is simple, it is whole food, it is deeply nourishing, and honestly, it requires real attention to get right. Every family has its own version, and every version is slightly different. There is something grounding about a meal like that, the kind that connects you to something larger than the moment you are cooking it.
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
I would just say this, the functional food space is noisy and a lot of what you see on shelves is formulated to look good on a label, not to actually deliver what it promises. We built Mushroom Squared because I genuinely believe most people would make different choices if they had better information about what they were eating. Mushrooms, particularly maitake, are among the most studied functional foods in the world for immune support, metabolic health, and prebiotic benefit. We just made it possible to eat them as your burger, rather than swallowing a capsule and hoping for the best. If your readers are in the New York area and curious, follow us at @mushroomsqrd or visit MushroomSquared.com. We want to earn a place in your kitchen.
Discover what true plant power is and head to https://mushroomsquared.com/.
