Fyffes, the company indelibly linked to bananas in the Irish psyche, took a loss last year of €170m. One of the culprits in the eye-watering loss were charges in its mushroom asset portfolio.
The company ventured into the North American mushroom business in April 2016 through its acquisition of Highline Produce in a deal that was worth the equivalent of €97.7 million at the time. It followed up months later with the €40 million purchase of another Canadian firm, All Seasons Mushroom, and carried out further deals growing the business under Sumitomo.
A spokeswoman for Fyffes said that a subsequent review of the mushroom business determined that it should be managed separately as it is “fundamentally different” to the tropical fresh produce operation, “requiring a different approach to farming, production, financing and marketing”.
