There are many mushroom growers throughout Ireland with the majority operating under one of Europe’s leading horticultural producer organisations, CMP.
CMP was established in 1999 as a horticultural producers’ organisation under European Union legislation. In the 1990s the Irish mushroom industry rapidly expanded and by 1996 the number of mushroom growers peaked at almost 600. CMP was established as a co-operative by mushroom growers for mushroom growers, and to deliver stability to the market by improving quality of mushrooms, maintaining the consistency of supply and getting a sustainable margin for producers.
Former CMP CEO Brian O’Reilly operates a mushroom farm in Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary for the last 16 years having established Ballywilliam Mushrooms in 1999.
A Dublin native, Brian relocated to Co Tipperary where he was a farm manager before deciding to establish his own business.
“I was at a stage in my life where I wanted to start work for myself and around this time a joint venture came about between Monaghan Mushrooms and the Tipperary Co-Op. So myself and my wife Lucy felt this was a great opportunity to get involved and the business has grown from there,” said Brian.
All the familiar mushrooms you see in the supermarket are grown indoors, all year round. During the growing process, mushroom growers re-create the conditions of a typical autumn morning. This is the time of the year mushrooms flourish. They carefully monitor and control the conditions inside their growing houses to create this perfect environment for growth
The shelves are filled in growing houses with spawned compost, which is then topped with a layer of peat. The mushroom spores begin to grow up through the compost over the next 3 or 4 days.
The growing houses are equipped with the latest technology in mushroom production to ensure consistently high quality products.
All mushrooms are handpicked using a unique one touch picking technique to keep mushrooms in top condition. Mushrooms are placed directly into punnets and quickly cooled to help lock in freshness. All mushrooms are picked to a certain specification and then graded to meet the standards of the customers. All expert harvesters complete in the region of twelve-weeks of training, to make sure that quality is never compromised.
All mushrooms are then transported in specifically designed refrigerated trucks to packing facilities. After the crop of mushrooms has been harvested, the compost is reused as a soil conditioner. The growing rooms are then washed, ready for a new growing cycle.
“It is a complex process. We have eight tunnels and we produce chestnut mushrooms all of which go to Monaghan Mushrooms. Ninety per cent of these are exported to the U.K market.
“We produce 20,000lbs of mushrooms every week and we are looking to expand the business by going to phase III which allows us apply compost more often and therefore produce more mushrooms. We hope to double in production size by doing this.”
From very humble beginnings Ballywillam Mushrooms has become a very significant producer in the Irish market.
Brian admits that the backing they have received from not only CMP, but the Government through the NDP has been much appreciated.
“When we started out we were part of a small producer group in Tipperary. We joined CMP and have been with them since. I have been involved with the CMP ever since and I did ten years as a director, while I was also CEO for a term. It was a very interesting role, but one that was very time consuming also and I decided to take a step back and we are just members now.
Brian played tribute to his employees who he feels have played a huge part in the growth and success of the business over the years.
“We have a loyal and efficient work force, many of who are with us over a decade now. They are all highly trained and they receive excellent training when they come to us first.”
There are 56 mushroom growers in Ireland now and although CMP do a huge amount to support them, Brian revealed that a horticultural forum has been established by stake holders to enhance their voice at government level.
“A number of stake holders involved in the fruit and veg industry have come together to try and get more help with regards price and costs. This was set up a year ago and it is a work in progress, but we are in it for the long haul. The level of experience between us is unreal and we feel that our voice should be heard more.”
Certain standards have to be met and Brian stated that audits from Government level and indeed Monaghan Mushrooms are a regular occurrence.
“We’ve often had three audits in the one day. There are massive standards to be met and we have achieved them all, but you can’t be complacent in this industry and you have to maintain those standards.
“The customers specifications are very stringent so we have to ensure that we produce exactly what they want. We are totally influenced by the UK market where the majority of our products go.”
Contact Details
Ballywilliam Mushrooms
Ballywilliam,
Ballyporeen,
Co. Tipperary
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 11, December 2015
