G’s Fresh Mushrooms only grow mushrooms in the UK and mainly supply the domestic market, so have been able to escape the various Brexit issues affecting growers in Europe."The UK market is very buoyant just now and we are in a good position, but in three year's time it may be very different," said James Meers, Commercial Director at G’s Fresh Mushrooms.
"For now, with the uncertainty around the whole Brexit issue, we need to be careful. The majority of the UK's mushrooms are grown in Ireland or in The Netherlands, which face massive Brexit questions around trade and exchange rates."
Some Dutch producers have said that there is no profit in selling mushrooms to the UK just now and recently a few Irish growers have gone out of business, but back when the Pound was at 1,40 or 1,45 it was a different story.
James said there may be potential in expanding UK mushroom growing as 3/4 of the total consumption is imported and, no matter what happens with Brexit, the cross border trade will remain difficult for the foreseeable future. "But at the moment we need to get more from what we already have, the whole agricultural climate is very tough so we need to make what we have work harder."
White closed cup mushrooms are the most popular in the UK, followed by the white button mushroom - together they make up 70% of the market. "Part of the challenge in mushrooms is that people see them as a bulking agent rather than a real ingredient," explains James. "Flat mushrooms are very different and have a different usage to the button mushrooms, and I think there is a lot work to do in making the consumer aware of ways you can use these mushrooms. It is not a question of which variety is the next big thing but more, which type of mushroom, because to the general consumer a mushroom is just a mushroom. Exotic mushrooms, while becoming more popular are a very small part of the market less than 1%."
Organic mushrooms have seen growth along with the whole organic sector. James said G's will look at growing their production. "The cost differential of producing organic mushrooms is not that much more than conventional mushrooms, so you can offer the consumer an organic product for not much more than the conventional one. With some products it costs twice as much to grow them organically."
G's grows mushrooms on three sites in the UK, one in the south of England, one in Cheltenham and one in Ely, this gives the company a good geographical spread. Each location has a different production and Cheltenham focuses on organics. Together, the three locations produce over 250 tonnes of mushrooms each week throughout the year.
For more information:
James Meers
G’s Fresh Mushrooms
Tel: +44 1353 726873
Email: james.meers@gs-fresh.com
www.gs-fresh.com
Some Dutch producers have said that there is no profit in selling mushrooms to the UK just now and recently a few Irish growers have gone out of business, but back when the Pound was at 1,40 or 1,45 it was a different story.
James said there may be potential in expanding UK mushroom growing as 3/4 of the total consumption is imported and, no matter what happens with Brexit, the cross border trade will remain difficult for the foreseeable future. "But at the moment we need to get more from what we already have, the whole agricultural climate is very tough so we need to make what we have work harder."
White closed cup mushrooms are the most popular in the UK, followed by the white button mushroom - together they make up 70% of the market. "Part of the challenge in mushrooms is that people see them as a bulking agent rather than a real ingredient," explains James. "Flat mushrooms are very different and have a different usage to the button mushrooms, and I think there is a lot work to do in making the consumer aware of ways you can use these mushrooms. It is not a question of which variety is the next big thing but more, which type of mushroom, because to the general consumer a mushroom is just a mushroom. Exotic mushrooms, while becoming more popular are a very small part of the market less than 1%."
Organic mushrooms have seen growth along with the whole organic sector. James said G's will look at growing their production. "The cost differential of producing organic mushrooms is not that much more than conventional mushrooms, so you can offer the consumer an organic product for not much more than the conventional one. With some products it costs twice as much to grow them organically."
G's grows mushrooms on three sites in the UK, one in the south of England, one in Cheltenham and one in Ely, this gives the company a good geographical spread. Each location has a different production and Cheltenham focuses on organics. Together, the three locations produce over 250 tonnes of mushrooms each week throughout the year.
For more information:
James Meers
G’s Fresh Mushrooms
Tel: +44 1353 726873
Email: james.meers@gs-fresh.com
www.gs-fresh.com