matsutake prices?

I am a matsutake mushroom picker in B.C. Canada.We are getting paid only 2.00 cdn per lb for our product! I feel we are being robbed by the wholesalers.Could someone please tell me what it costs in JAPAN for a lb of imported MATSUTAKE mushrooms?? Thank you!

You are getting rubbed big time for sure. We pay at least 100USD for 100 g, 1/4 lb. of medium quality matsutake here in Japan. You can send your mushrooms directly to me. I'd pay you X10 of what you're getting now and we can both get rich!

Usually there are different prices for each grade. I'ts around $15/lb for #1in Washington State right now.

Yeah your getting screwed big time, it's $18 a lbs on the island in BC, you should ship them to me, i'll pay you 4 a lbs and we'll both get rich...

you can't compare the prices paid at the source (picker, farmer etc. ) and the price paid by the consumer, especially in a foreign country. there are many unavoidable intermediaries between the source and the consumer. Even in Canada we pay way more for milk and eggs in the supermarkets for example than the farmers get. I saw a 300 gr whole Japanese matsutake a few days ago in Osaka that was for sale in a pricey departemnt store for $ 600!. However Canadian ones nearby were on sale at only $ 12 for 100 gr.

. . . indicate the source of the matsutake at the store???

I've heard Japanese labeling is pretty good about this. How about clams from Korea or unagi from China? Is it indicated on the packaging at the store?

yes they do! this is why I know that the expensive matsutake was from Japan and cheaper ones were from Korea, Canada etc. however I was in either Daimaru or Hanshin (can't remember as we checked all the big department stores...) small stores may not be so thorough.

. . . any difference in the taste between matsutake in Japan and elsewhere? I know the morphology on them seems to vary a lot, in that some look longish and scrawny and some have big caps.

no difference in taste if one doesn't know where the mushrooms come from. Funny enough if they know the origin local people think that Japanese ones taste better.

I don't know about taste, but the aroma of Japanese matsutake seems to be fuller and therefore prized, which accounts for the price difference.

Odd thing is that, Japanese say shimeji tastes best of all mushrooms("matsutake is for aroma, shimeji is for taste"), though they are sold cheap in all kinds of shops. Matsutake is prized for its aroma. Perhaps they are expensive because not so many (compared with other mushrooms) are around in Japanese markets?