Austin and Kat Are Hedging CBD With Five Mushroom SKUs

You stock a CBD brand that built its name on premium sourcing. Now they want five mushroom SKUs.

The decision Austin and Kat actually made

Austin and Kat, the employee-owned Seattle pet wellness company, launched five functional mushroom products for dogs: three powders and two liquid extracts. The company produces everything at its NASC-certified Seattle facility using the same in-house, small-batch model that built its CBD business.

The mushroom SKUs use organic ingredients from M2 Ingredients, a Southern California grower that cultivates and processes functional mushrooms at its Vista facility. Founder and CEO Kat Donatello told the trade press the company delayed launching mushroom products until it found a supplier it could verify at every production step. According to Donatello, the mushroom species, the plant parts used, and the cultivation and extraction methods all determine ingredient quality.

The powder lineup includes two single-species options, Turkey Tail and Lion's Mane, formulated with active ingredients only, plus a seven-mushroom blend called 7 Mighty Mushrooms designed as a meal topper. The two liquid extracts are Lion's Mane Extract, positioned for cognitive and nerve health, and 6 Mighty Mushrooms, a six-species formula for immune and digestive support. All five SKUs carry a $29.95 suggested retail.

The products ship now through the company's wholesale site and through Pet Food Experts, Southeast Pet, Independent Pet Supply, IPS South, and Sunburst Pet Supply.

The play mushrooms give you that CBD doesn't anymore

Functional mushrooms let you sell a premium sourcing narrative in a supplement category where ingredient provenance is hard to verify, according to the company. Director of Education Lilly Miller said in the announcement that mushroom demand is climbing but most pet parents can't assess ingredient quality from a label.

Austin and Kat is betting that whole-mushroom, domestically grown positioning creates differentiation when most competing products use imported mycelium or mushroom fractions. According to Miller, the new line gives retail staff a verifiable claim to make: U.S.-grown whole mushrooms with published research support, produced by a team customers can reach by phone.

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The format question you need an answer to

Powders and extracts test whether pet parents will buy standalone supplements or if they still only buy mushrooms baked into treats. Austin and Kat is running pure-play products, not chews with mushrooms as one ingredient among several.

If powders move, you've got a format with dosing flexibility. If they sit, you know the category still needs the treat as the trojan horse. Track sell-through by format, not just by brand.

Where this costs you if you're wrong

The failure mode is stocking five SKUs from a known brand and discovering your customers wanted mushroom chews, not mushroom powders they have to measure and mix. You've got capital tied up in a format the category may not be ready for yet.

The other risk: you stock Austin and Kat's mushroom line at the suggested retail, and your customer can't tell the difference between whole-mushroom and mycelium-only by reading the front panel. If you can't explain the sourcing distinction in one sentence at the register, the price comparison wins.

Our read: mushrooms are the margin hedge, not the CBD replacement

Austin and Kat launched in 2014 when Kat Donatello formulated hemp chews in her kitchen for her own dogs. The company has scaled into a dedicated Seattle production facility but maintained its founding principle: formulate supplements the team would feed their own animals. The operating model remains consistent: vet every supplier, test every production batch, and reject any ingredient the staff wouldn't use personally.

That's the same story the brand told when CBD was new. Now mushrooms are where this brand is looking for the next play. If Austin and Kat's mushroom line sticks, watch whether other supplement brands follow the same whole-mushroom, U.S.-sourced positioning.

The tell will be whether powders and extracts actually move. Stock it if you've got the brand's CBD line already performing and you want the test case. Skip it if you're still trying to figure out whether functional supplements can pull traffic at all.

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