#214: Elite-Tier Functional Mushrooms: Inside NuCelium with Riley Boudreau and Rob Swiderski

Episode #214 of the PricePlow Podcast goes deep with the two co-founders of NuCelium, a functional mushroom cultivation company operating out of Coldstream, British Columbia. Riley Boudreau and Rob Swiderski join Mike and Ben to explain NuCelium’s biology-first approach to potency and why their full-spectrum growing method can outperform conventional extraction without stripping out a single compound. The conversation covers Rob’s unusual path to mushrooms (he sold his shares in nine restaurants after a vision he attributes to God) and Riley’s journey from mushroom-picking robotics into cultivation science. Together with a founding mycology team carrying over 75 years of combined experience, they’ve built a facility where quality and affordability don’t have to be trade-offs. The headline result: NuCelium’s CordyFuelâ„¢ won the 2025 Cordy Cup with a third-party verified 14.83 mg/g cordycepin reading, the highest in competition history, achieved without extraction. For the full backstory on the company, see our NuCelium brand introduction on the PricePlow Blog, but this discussion is worth your full time. Once you’re done, you’ll be figuring out ways to add CordyFuel and these other top-tier mushroom ingredients to your stack. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform and sign up for NuCelium news alerts on PricePlow before diving in! https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/nucelium-mushrooms-214 Video: Biology-First Mushrooms with NuCelium’s Riley Boudreau and Rob Swiderski https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHqyx2tCS3A Detailed Show Notes: Riley Boudreau and Rob Swiderski of NuCelium on CordyFuel, Full-Spectrum Cultivation, and the Cordy Cup (0:00) – Introductions (4:00) – Riley’s Origin Story: Nepal, Automation, and Mushrooms (12:00) – Rob’s Premonition: The Vision That Started It All (14:00) – Building for Biosecurity and Scale (20:00) – Mushroom Growing 101: Full Spectrum vs. Extraction (26:45) – The Extract Debate: Ratio vs. Standardized (31:45) – Functional and Psychedelic Mushrooms: Where They Intersect (36:00) – Learning from Failure: How Potency Gets Unlocked (44:30) – The Cordy Cup: 14.83 mg/g and Competition Record (47:30) – Beyond Cordycepin: Adenosine, Uridine, and Longevity Bioactives (49:15) – Benefits by Mushroom Species (55:00) – Eight Mushrooms, One Facility (58:45) – Gut Health and the Prebiotic Fiber Matrix (1:01:00) – Could the Substrate Become Its Own Ingredient? (1:04:30) – Play Formulator: Dream Products from NuCelium Ingredients (1:09:30) – Biosecurity: Why It’s Everything in Mushroom Farming (1:13:00) – Strain Genetics: Catching and Riding the Wave (1:18:45) – Commercial Consistency: Under-Promise, Over-Deliver (1:22:00) – Research Roadmap: From Cell Culture to Human Trials (1:26:15) – What’s Next: Chaga, Tiger’s Milk, and the Substrate Study Where to Follow and Learn More Connect with Riley, Rob, and NuCelium LinkedIn: Riley Boudreau Linke… Read more on the PricePlow Blog