Clune Mushrooms is determined to weather the storm that has engulfed the Irish mushroom industry in the wake of Brexit. Director Philip Fryday of the Clonoulty, Cashel, Co Tipperary based firm tells Irish Tractor & Agri magazine that their focus is firmly on the future.
Considering that the Irish mushroom industry exports over 80% of its products to the UK each year, it was inevitable that some mushroom growers in Ireland would be forced to close their doors following the Brexit referendum across the water.
As a result of this dependence on UK markets, the sector has been hit hard by the devaluation of the British pound in the aftermath of the June 23rd vote.
The vulnerability of the sector has been well documented but and, as far as Philip Fryday of Clune Mushrooms is concerned, the time has come to start thinking positively again. He’s counting down the days now to when the British Government triggers Article 50 and the reality of the situation will become clearer.
“At this stage we’re just hoping that Brexit will settle itself out,” Philip told Irish Tractor & Agri magazine. “It been drawn out ever since the British voted for it and we just wish it would happen at this stage rather than have all the talking and uncertainty surrounding what might happen.
“It has been very hard since Brexit. The demand for our mushrooms has dropped and we’ve ended up having to dump a lot of mushrooms which is, of course, a financial disaster.
“I never saw it as bad as last Christmas and we were left with a lot of mushrooms on our hands but you have to get things up and running again and think positive.
“I think we will be able to ride it out if things stay steady.”
Despite there being no tradition of mushroom growing in the family, Philip Fryday and his brother Andrew established Clune Mushrooms in 1999.
An opportunity came their way via Monaghan Mushrooms and they seized it with both hands. It didn’t take them long to learn the tricks of the trade and today they have 26 people on the company’s payroll. The Fryday brothers built up the business from scratch, on a two acre family-owned green field site.
“It was tough at the start and we found it hard to get pickers,” Philip recalled. “We had to train new pickers and staff but we’re at it now for the last 18 years. When we started out we were doing 18 tonne of compost per week. Now we’re on 78 tonne of compost per week. Looking to the future, we would be hoping to keep it at the same level.”
Valued members of the CMP (Commercial Mushroom Producers), Clune Mushrooms’ produce can only be found under the Monaghan Mushrooms umbrella.
Over the last thirty years, Monaghan Mushrooms has grown to become one of the largest mushroom producers in the world, serving some of the largest international retailers.
Driven by a passion to provide consumers with a fresh and high quality food, the company is involved in all aspects of growing mushrooms.
They produce compost, grow, pack and deliver their mushrooms to customers in six countries.
They are committed to leading the mushroom category, spreading knowledge about the benefits of mushrooms and investing in innovation and research.Back in the late nineties, they started sourcing supply from a network of satellite growers throughout Ireland and that was where Clune Mushrooms entered the Monaghan Mushrooms story.
“We used to specialise in white mushrooms but we switched eight years ago and now it’s all chestnut mushrooms,” Philip revealed.
“Facilities wise, we have 16 houses and rent another farm with five houses for the spawn run. We don’t ever see ourselves expanding in the future but you never know. We both have young lads coming down the stream. My nephew Shane (Andrew’s son) is working in the family business already.
“The last bit of expansion we did was 10 years ago when we built six new houses. After that the next step was Dutch Shelving but we won’t be doing it at the minute!” he added in reference to the current Brexit dominated climate.
Clune Mushrooms is widely recognised as one of Ireland’s leading growers of fresh, high quality mushrooms.
The farm has grown into a thriving, modern business and this success has been built on strong foundations of quality, service and a commitment to excellence.
“We pride ourselves on our top quality mushrooms. You have to produce quality mushrooms in this day and age because there are so many different audits nowadays, from Bord Bia and Monaghan Mushrooms themselves etc.
“As a result, the bad quality has gone out of this game in the last couple of years.”
Clune Mushrooms Ltd
Clune
Clonoulty
Cashel
Co. Tipperary
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 2, March 2017
