Irish company Walsh Mushroom Group is in the course of a UK production expansion with an investment of €12m in a new facility.
The mushroom-growing farm will be built around seven miles from its distribution depot in the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England.
The Gorey-headquartered company plans to produce a range of “shop shelf” mushrooms for its retail customers from its new site.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Walsh Mushrooms director Alan Walsh said with its customer base being predominantly in the UK, the company needed to enhance its offering there.
“We’ve had a presence in England for 40 years and our distribution centre is 25 years in Evesham,” he said.
“It’s just group expansion, whether sometimes it falls on the Irish side of the Irish Sea, sometimes it falls on the English side of the Irish Sea. It’s not an Irish/English strategy; the business has to go on and invest and with the next investment, England is the right place.”
UK market
This will be Walsh Mushrooms’ second growing farm in England as it already has an existing facility in Suffolk for the last 15 years.
According to Teagasc, the mushroom industry is Ireland’s largest horticulture sector and has a farm gate value of €158.6m, of which around 85% is exported to the UK.
Bord Bia indicates that the UK market for mushrooms is growing steadily in recent years at about 2% per year.
“[The UK market] is stable and competitive. It has all the attributes of healthy food and quick convenience so it’s a positive marketplace,” said Walsh.
The Irish mushroom sector was one of the sectors hit hardest by Brexit in 2020 which led to higher import prices and input costs.
With labour accounting for an average of 44.1% of the cost of mushroom production, Walsh said that the lack of skilled labour is a real problem.
“A lorry load of fruit and veg is one load, you pay, you do the paperwork and it’s across the water; the world goes on, it’s not a huge challenge.
Brexit
“To us, Brexit was more the turning off of the eastern European labour. Migration is more controlled so it’s a slow squeeze on the available labour pool in the UK,” he maintained.
In Ireland, Walsh Mushrooms currently has a growing facility based in Golden, Co Tipperary, which Walsh said will need “continuing investment”. Other than retail mushrooms, substrate, the material on which they grow, is produced there.
“We’re always looking at enhancing production. We’ve a brand-new technology gone into the Golden farm with a robot which is basically the second farm in the world to have this technology.
“We’re just excited about the new technology and this is going to be a significant step forward in industry terms.
“For 20 to 25 years, there hasn’t been such a significant change.”
Read more
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Irish company Walsh Mushroom Group is in the course of a UK production expansion with an investment of €12m in a new facility.
The mushroom-growing farm will be built around seven miles from its distribution depot in the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England.
The Gorey-headquartered company plans to produce a range of “shop shelf” mushrooms for its retail customers from its new site.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Walsh Mushrooms director Alan Walsh said with its customer base being predominantly in the UK, the company needed to enhance its offering there.
“We’ve had a presence in England for 40 years and our distribution centre is 25 years in Evesham,” he said.
“It’s just group expansion, whether sometimes it falls on the Irish side of the Irish Sea, sometimes it falls on the English side of the Irish Sea. It’s not an Irish/English strategy; the business has to go on and invest and with the next investment, England is the right place.”
UK market
This will be Walsh Mushrooms’ second growing farm in England as it already has an existing facility in Suffolk for the last 15 years.
According to Teagasc, the mushroom industry is Ireland’s largest horticulture sector and has a farm gate value of €158.6m, of which around 85% is exported to the UK.
Bord Bia indicates that the UK market for mushrooms is growing steadily in recent years at about 2% per year.
“[The UK market] is stable and competitive. It has all the attributes of healthy food and quick convenience so it’s a positive marketplace,” said Walsh.
The Irish mushroom sector was one of the sectors hit hardest by Brexit in 2020 which led to higher import prices and input costs.
With labour accounting for an average of 44.1% of the cost of mushroom production, Walsh said that the lack of skilled labour is a real problem.
“A lorry load of fruit and veg is one load, you pay, you do the paperwork and it’s across the water; the world goes on, it’s not a huge challenge.
Brexit
“To us, Brexit was more the turning off of the eastern European labour. Migration is more controlled so it’s a slow squeeze on the available labour pool in the UK,” he maintained.
In Ireland, Walsh Mushrooms currently has a growing facility based in Golden, Co Tipperary, which Walsh said will need “continuing investment”. Other than retail mushrooms, substrate, the material on which they grow, is produced there.
“We’re always looking at enhancing production. We’ve a brand-new technology gone into the Golden farm with a robot which is basically the second farm in the world to have this technology.
“We’re just excited about the new technology and this is going to be a significant step forward in industry terms.
“For 20 to 25 years, there hasn’t been such a significant change.”
Read more
Up to 14.8% inflation on horticulture input prices
Mushroom growers want new legislation stopped
Agri jobs: horticulture positions with accommodation
IFA horticulture representatives meet minister Healy-Rae
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