An interesting article in the November edition of Mushroom Business, concentrated on Poland, specifically Eastern Poland.
Some facts and figures stated up front in the item managed to catch the eye: 210 million kilos of mushrooms produced in 2005, produced by 3000 to 3500 companies. This is a bigger scale mushroom industry, that's for sure.
An interesting arose towards the end of the item – the Poles are experiencing labour problems.
With a sparse population in the east and with many youngsters having left to work in booming Warsaw and further afield, the personnel to staff the mushroom facilities in the region are no longer available in the local population. Labour has to be brought in from Ukraine and Russia in the first instance.
The evolution of the industry in Poland seems to be mirroring that in Ireland to some extent, just as the Irish industry has mirrored the evolution of the mushroom industry in the USA in some regards too. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, as they don't say in Losice (eastern Polska).
