Recognised as one of the Ireland’s leading producers of mushrooms, Reilly Mushrooms is an award winning family business with over 30 years’ experience.
The Athlone, Co Westmeath enterprise was originally established by Gerry and Mary Reilly in 1988 and is now run in conjunction with their two sons Kevin and Joe.
The company currently produces approximately 50,000kg of high-quality mushrooms per week and supplies both the Irish and UK markets.
Having spent over 30 years growing mushrooms, Reilly Mushrooms are veterans in this sector and the business and, as Joe Reilly explained, their experience proved to be invaluable when it came to navigating a series of challenges which arose in recent years.
“We’ve had quite a few challenges in our industry which couldn’t have been foreseen,” Joe revealed in conversation with Irish Tractor & Agri. “Specifically, the likes of Brexit, Covid-19 and the cutting of bogs would have been three big things for us.
“The big impact of Brexit initially, after the referendum was passed was that the exchange rate had dropped close to 20% over night. That was quite significant when a lot of our supply at that time would have been going to the UK. It put some people in the industry out of business.
“About 80% of our mushrooms were going to the UK at the time so we were quite exposed. We had no choice really but to focus on being less dependent on the UK and we approached a couple of customers in Ireland and some of the Irish supermarkets and since then we’ve started supplying Lidl Ireland which is a big thing for us and reduced a lot of the exposure to the UK.
“When Covid-19 came in, it brought plenty of challenges and uncertainty. We adhered to all the guidelines and advice set out by the HSE. A bit like farming, we are a seven day a week operation and, fortunately, we were able to continue working away with new procedures in place.
“We had to adjust how we did things, we had to separate some of the shifts, we had people separated into teams where, for example, they were colour coded by their hair nets so one team might be blue, red, black and so on. If people were car pooling or living together, they would be in one team and wouldn’t have contact with other teams.
“We also carry out daily temperature checks and all of these things that have become the norm across the world at the minute. Luckily for us, the growing rooms that we have, they are 50m in length by 10m wide and we have 16 of those so everybody is well spread out.”
The expansion in numbers of their growing rooms gives an indication of how Reilly Mushrooms has evolved down through the years.
“When the business started in ’88, we had three growing rooms. Now, as I’ve said, we have 16. We have cold stores for storing the mushrooms and a rapid chiller which is another cold store that reduces the temperature rapidly which lengthens the shelf life of the product to give a fresher mushroom.
“Basically, when we harvest mushrooms they are ending up in the supermarket or local shop or hotels and restaurants within 24 hours of being picked.
“We are producing just over 50,000 kilos per week which is about 3,000 ton per year. Going back to when we started we would have been producing about 2,000 kilos per week.”
Demand for the Button and Breakfast flat varieties that the Reilly’s produce is, according to Joe, high at the moment while they also sell home growing kits which allows customers to grow their own fresh mushrooms from home. The enormous potential of mushrooms within the world of modern cooking and the added health and nutritional benefits that they have are the key selling points.
“They are mighty mushrooms for a reason. They are very versatile and they can be added to various recipes – we have plenty of suggestions on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
“Also, they contain virtually no fat, no sugar or salt or carbs. They are a valuable source of dietary fibre. For example, 80 grams of mushrooms would serve as one of your five a day. That would be one large flat mushroom or four closed cup mushrooms and that serving would add only about 20 calories so they are very good for anybody counting calories or watching their weight.
“They are also a good source of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. Mushrooms are the only source of Vitamin D in the produce aisle which is something most of us in Ireland don’t get enough of.”
Back in 2018, Reilly Mushrooms carved a niche for itself as the only mushroom company to claim the prestigious Bord Bia Origin Green Farmer Award.
The success highlighted the family’s commitment to exceptional sustainable quality assurance. They got top marks from the judges in terms of crop husbandry, health and safety, farm labour, local community involvement, environmental/biodiversity measures and energy usage.
“One of our core aims is to practice responsible farming,” Joe emphasised. “Over the years we have invested heavily in technology and processes that enable us to produce mushrooms with as little impact on the environment as possible. For example, we have 600 solar PV panels which generate 150KW of renewable energy and that helps us to power our farm.
“We’d be looking at options around expanding that with increasing electrical costs coming down the line as well. We also invested heavily in a wood pellet sterilisation system which helps reduce the need for disinfectant use.
“We are continuously looking at different areas to make improvements and be proactive including different types of packaging which are more eco-friendly, new techniques and ways of operating. We are always looking at what we need to be doing to keep up and stay ahead of the competition.”
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Reilly Mushrooms
Walderstown
Athlone
Co. Westmeath
Phone: +353 861630433 / +353 868788858
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.reillymushrooms.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 2, March/April 2022
