It was around January last year that I
decided to investigate the possibility of supplying pellets to the mushroom
industry. I was not happy about the quality and perceived consistency of
existing supplies and there was the problem that prices rose every year in the
autumn. John Brick and I formed Premium Pellets Ltd. We found a supplier with a
product that ticked all the boxes. The big surprise was that the calorific
value was higher than any of the many samples we had tested.

We decided to start the business and
brought in the first boat load. When I saw the pellets in the store I panicked as
I thought it would take several years to sell. Sales started to the mushroom
growers and increased over the first couple of months. The poultry producers were
our next target market. The poultry producers are cost aware and it wasn’t long
before they were confirming the extra calorific value. Good news spread and
sales took off.

I was promoting our product to a
mushroom grower recently and telling him that he could save £7,000 per year on
12 loads with our price and extra heat value. When on my way home I realised
that I had made a mistake. It should have been £13,000: I forgot about the £20
per tonne he would have been paying extra if Premium Pellets hadn’t entered the
market. By David Totten.