About Birch Boys, Inc.


Birch Boys Team - Garrett, Ember, Trisha and Kaitlin

We are a passionate team of fungi enthusiasts, dedicated to creating the finest handcrafted, US-origin mushroom products. We hold a deep respect for nature and a commitment to sustainable practices. Birch Boys is proud to be the highest quality source of North American Wild Chaga.

Have a question? Reach out, we don't bite!

We are a passionate team of fungi enthusiasts, dedicated to creating the finest handcrafted, US-origin mushroom products. We hold a deep respect for nature and a commitment to sustainable practices. Birch Boys is proud to be the highest quality source of North American Wild Chaga.

Have a question? Reach out, we don't bite!



Our Story

"When I was a young man, the knowledge of healing fungi was introduced to me by my grandmother. After mowing her lawn I was parched, so I drank a glass of what I thought was iced tea from her refrigerator. She entered the kitchen and told me that I was drinking a fungus! I followed her to a birch tree in her backyard where she demonstrated how to harvest chaga. She taught me all about chaga's health benefits and how to make chaga tea. It wasn’t long before I had developed a deep passion for chaga and started harvesting it for my grandmother. It wasn't long before chaga took over my life and my brainchild, Birch Boys, was born. My mission is to spread awareness of wild healing fungi and encourage people to live symbiotically with our natural allies."

- Garrett Kopp

"When I was a young man, the knowledge of healing fungi was introduced to me by my grandmother. After mowing her lawn I was parched, so I drank a glass of what I thought was iced tea from her refrigerator. She entered the kitchen and told me that I was drinking a fungus! I followed her to a birch tree in her backyard where she demonstrated how to harvest chaga. She taught me all about chaga's health benefits and how to make chaga tea. It wasn’t long before I had developed a deep passion for chaga and started harvesting it for my grandmother. It wasn't long before chaga took over my life and my brainchild, Birch Boys, was born. My mission is to spread awareness of wild healing fungi and encourage people to live symbiotically with our natural allies."

- Garrett Kopp



Our Team


Garrett Kopp of Birch Boys with a basket of wild chaga, hemlock red reishi, turkey tail, lion's mane and maitake

Garrett Kopp

Company President

Garrett Kopp

Company President


Birch Boys employee posing with chaga

Kaitlin Lawless

Marketing & Customer Service

Kaitlin Lawless

Marketing & Customer Service


Birch Boys employee posing with Maitake Mushroom

Trisha Shultz

Fulfillment Manager

Trisha Shultz

Fulfillment Manager


Birch Boys Employee posing with wild chaga

Ember Hughes

Production Manager

Ember Hughes

Production Manager


The Birch Boys Shop



Our shop is located at 12 Cliff Ave in Tupper Lake, NY 12986. Our hours are Monday thru Friday from 10am to 5pm. Bear in mind that we're a 4-person team, on occasion we may be out harvesting, or out of the shop for some other work-related reason. To ensure we'll be at the shop when you stop by, give us a call at 518-299-9620.



Birch Boys In The News


As Chaga Keeps Trending Mycologists Worry About Running Out

June 8th, 2023

"Chaga, a fungus found in colder climates, is a trendy ingredient in supplements and functional foods. But some foragers worry the supply is growing thin."


Birch Boys Achieves Organic Certification

December 10th, 2022

"Working with forest landowners, Birch Boys business achieves USDA organic certification. Outdoor enthusiasts in the Adirondacks have likely come across chaga many times. Birch Boys founder Garrett Kopp calls it, “one of the most unique organisms on Earth."


Medicinal Mushrooms Are Having A Moment

March 23rd, 2021

"Garrett Kopp is the 22-year-old founder and CEO of Birch Boys in the Adirondacks, where medicinal mushrooms like chaga, pictured, grow in abundance. Like many mushroom purveyors, 2020 was his best year of sales yet."


Birch Boys Pigment Patent - Fungal Melanin

September 2nd, 2020

"Two Clarkson graduates living in Tupper Lake have applied for a patent on their method of extracting melanin from fungi. They are looking to become wholesale providers of the pigment, which is finding increased use in biotechnology."


Brewing A Taste For Chaga In Tupper Lake

April 18th, 2018

"This week, Birch Boys took another step toward making chaga a household name by opening a store on Park Street in downtown Tupper Lake."


The Chaga Hunter

October 4th, 2018

"He suddenly veers off the path mid-stride and heads directly for a white birch tree, its pale bark popping against the greens and browns of hemlocks and white pines. High up on the tree’s trunk, just out of reach, there’s a black, charred-looking mass that’s roughly the size of a two-liter soda bottle."


The Medicinal Mushroom Man

September 2nd, 2020

"Two Clarkson graduates living in Tupper Lake have applied for a patent on their method of extracting melanin from fungi. They are looking to become wholesale providers of the pigment, which is finding increased use in biotechnology."



Birch Boys Achievements and Recognitions


$10,000 Winner | Wake Forest University Retail Health Innovation Challenge

November 12, 2016

$25,000 Grant Recipient | Wallace Coulter Foundation

April 4th, 2017

Certificate Of Appreciation | Adirondack Park Agency

March 15th, 2019

More » Less «
  • List
  • Map