Newly-opened €12m mushroom- growing plant to create 150 jobs

A €12 MILLION mushroom growing plant which was opened near Monaghan Town yesterday will create 150 jobs.

It was built by Tyholland Mushrooms, an associate company of Monaghan Mushrooms, and is made up of 18 growing houses.

The plant will have an output of 115 tonnes of mushrooms per week at full capacity. That is equal to an annual output of 5,980 tonnes, the vast proportion of which will be exported to Britain.

Ireland’s mushroom industry is worth in excess of €100m per year. More than 70% of that production is exported.

Monaghan Mushrooms has a 17% market share in Ireland and 45% of the €425m market in Britain, the largest in Europe.

The company, which supports a network of 27 independent growers in Ireland, is Europe’s leading mushroom producer and a major Irish food exporter whose customers include all of the leading British multiples.

In addition to its base in Monaghan, it has extensive operations in various locations in Ireland and Britain and has recently established a base in Canada from which it expects to develop a presence in the North American market.

Founder and managing director Ronnie Wilson said the new development will deliver greater productivity and strengthen its ability to service the needs of customers, which has a combined workforce of 2,297 employees.

It will also bring benefits to the economy in Monaghan through the jobs it will create, he said.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith, who opened the facility and a dedicated Research and Development centre, said the mushroom business has been one of the success stories of Irish agriculture.

He described Monaghan Mushrooms as pioneers in the development of the industry in Ireland and said the new facilities are a far cry from the traditional tunnel constructed from metal hoops, plastic and an insulating layer.

They were revolutionary in their time, designed and developed for the Irish grower when the mushroom industry was being established.

Since then growers have improved and adapted them in response to the changes in the industry. Those changes were incremental in nature.