Matthew Fensom, General Manager at White Prince Mushrooms, said the prices could be better, "As costs continue to rise it is very difficult to get more for your produce. The white button remains the most popular, but there is a small amount of growth in other more exotic varieties which is mainly driven by factors such as celebrity chefs on TV."
White Prince Mushrooms grow a variety of mushrooms from the popular white button to the more exotic varieties such as the Enoki, Shieji and Shiitake. A popular marketing point in Australia just now is the vitamin D content of mushrooms, this can be enhanced by putting the mushrooms under a UV light.
Although there has not been much change in packing for mushrooms over the last few years, Matthew explains that sliced mushrooms is one of fastest growing categories especially for the supermarkets and food service industries.
Export of Australian mushrooms is limited, due to the high labour costs it is difficult to compete on the world market, but on the other hand there are very few imports as well, just of the more exotic varieties and prepared mushrooms.
White Prince Mushrooms is based on the outskirts of Sydney and employ around 600 people to turnout their 220 tonnes of mushrooms every week.
F
or more information:Matthew Fensom
White Prince Mushrooms
Tel: +61 2 9627 4799
Email: mfensom@whiteprince.com.au
www.whiteprince.com.au