Wexford-based Walsh Mushrooms Group announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Golden Mushrooms, one of Ireland's leading mushroom growers.
The group currently produces over 26,000 tonnes of mushrooms per year, or 15% of the total UK market.
With the addition of Golden Mushrooms, its staff grows to 380 people across four sites in Ireland and the UK. Its production capacity will increase to 140 tonnes of mushrooms per week.
The company was founded in 1998 by Michael and Marian Bergin, and began operations near the village of Golden, in Co. Tipperary. It has a staff of 90 people and a turnover of €90 million.
Walsh Mushrooms Group said that the acquisition was a positive move, indicative of its confidence that the industry could withstand the volatility created by the Brexit vote.
The managing director of Walsh Mushrooms Group, Padraic O’Leary, said, "A long-standing, strong relationship exists between our markets, and we are confident that, ultimately, the UK will return a more sustainable price for Irish mushrooms, reflecting the new, post-Brexit foreign-exchange rates."
He added that mushrooms are the second-largest vegetable category in the UK, but that the market requires 50% imported produce to keep up with demand.
The Walsh Mushrooms Group, originally founded in Co. Wexford in 1979, also operates a compost-manufacturing facility there, a production facility in Suffolk, and a packing and labelling site near Evesham, in Worcestershire, UK.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
