The Farmers Journal carried a rueful piece on the mushroom industry on June 7th. The piece was entitled "Mushroom growers face ruin".
It related the story of a couple involved in the Tipperary mushroom set up in 1999. The couple, Evelyn and Pat English, sold their house in Co. Limerick to get started at the venture on a two acre site near Tipperary.
Some growers might have queried that, along with financial projections that indicated a £60,000 (€76,000) a year profit!
Unfortunately the English's operation encountered the problems recognisable to every grower in Ireland – mushroom prices fell below expectations; grading was not as good as expected; and compost quality became unreliable, reducing yields.
The couple also found that dealing with the "big boys" wasn't at all what they expected.
As Evelyn put it- "We had no comeback. Monaghan Mushrooms issued the cheques. But first they took out the cost of compost and packaging. We took what was left! We were running at a loss."
" Dealing with Monaghan Mushrooms was a nightmare. We had many rows over grading and compost quality. They were selling mushrooms for top dollar to Sainsburys and Tesco in England and giving us what they deemed a fair price. We were facing financial ruin if this continued."
The couple eventually closed their mushroom business in May 2001. They remain critical of Monaghan Mushrooms and Tipperary Co-op.
However they also felt that they had exited the industry having learned some tough lessons and having been strengthened, if chastened, by the whole experience.
