COVID-19 Impact on Global Shiitake Mushroom in the Food and Beverages Industry
With the outbreak of COVID-19 from Wuhan, China, and then its widespread all across the world, the outbreak has affected millions. Thus negatively affecting the global economic growth. This economic downfall is beyond anything experienced in nearly a century. For Instance, according to World Bank, the economic growth in Asia-Pacific region is projected to fall by 0.5% in 2020. In addition, according to Economics Times, as estimated by International Labor Organization, due to COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, 81 million jobs were wiped out in Asia-Pacific, with 10% dip in labor income. Moreover, according to International Monetary Fund, the GDP of Europe has fallen by 40 percent in the second quarters due to the spread of virus. The pandemic has impacted all industries and sectors in the market in every aspect of supply and demand requirements.
As the market has disrupted due to the pandemic, there have been some changes across market, brought in by the change in the consumption pattern of the consumers. Among these the consumption of mushrooms, especially shiitake mushroom has increased among the consumers. The reason for this increased demand is the growing health awareness among the consumers and also during these peril times consumers have shown a keen interest in plant-based food.
CONSUMERS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD) AND OBESITY AT HIGH RISK OF COVID-19
CVD and Obesity are one of the diseased making the patients more vulnerable to the high risk of COVID-19. As through the years, there has been increase in number of population with obesity and CVD, there will be a significant rise in COVID-19 cases.
For instance,
• According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019, almost half of the children under age of 5 who suffer from overweight and obesity lived in Asia.

Figure 1 Prevalence of Obesity among Adults, BMI >= 30 (Age-Standardized Estimate) (%) Read in detail...