The consumption of mushrooms, whether wild or cultivated, is growing rapidly in a global scale. Due to problems with the substrates, large mushroom growers like the Netherlands have been facing problems to supply their customers. Given the situation, Spain would continue to grow and take the lead as a mushroom supplier in Europe.
"At the moment, there is a shortage of mushrooms grown in Europe, but this is not affecting us," says Fernando Serra, Fresh Manager of Laumont. "We have been working with a few mushroom growers in La Rioja and Cuenca for years, who are faithful to us as suppliers in all circumstances.
Based in TÃ rrega, Lleida, Laumont is a trading company devoted to truffles, wild mushrooms and cultivated mushrooms. The mushrooms are sold at the usual stalls in MercaMadrid, MercaBarna and MercaBilbao, but they are also shipped to different countries around the world. To complete their orders, they also import exotic mushrooms from China and South Korea.
Left, Fernando Serra with his colleagues in their first year as exhibitors at Fruit Logistica.
"In the past, this type of cultivated exotic mushrooms were imported only by Dutch traders, but about 15 years ago, we decided to import them too. Over the years, we saw that the import of exotic mushrooms worked very well, and for about 7 years, we have been betting very strongly on maritime imports, which is more affordable and offers greater capacity in terms of volume."
If there is something in which this company excels is in wild mushroom trade. "We stand out as marketers of wild mushrooms, which are harvested in forests all over Spain and later processed in a fresh and frozen plant located in Valladolid. There they are handled, calibrated and cleaned to make them available to the markets," explains Serra.
According to Fernando Serra, Laumont's priority has always been the Spanish market, although exports are significantly gaining ground. In fact, they have recently been shipping mushrooms to new markets, such as the United States and Canada, by air.
"The demand continues to grow and, at the moment, it is already greater than the supply, which means that Europe is already contacting us to buy our mushrooms. We hope to continue positioning ourselves in the field of cultivated mushrooms, whose popularity continues to increase, mostly thanks to the fact that it is a very healthy product with no chemicals, since it is grown only with water and substrate. Luckily, the supply of mushrooms in Spain is very large, which is allowing us to expand into other markets without neglecting the domestic market," says Serra.
Unlike truffles, mushrooms are no longer an expensive product that is difficult to acquire. "Nowadays, mushroom consumption has normalized, as it has become an affordable product that can be found in any supermarket."
Laumont exports truffles to more than 35 countries
Between 85 and 90% of the truffles consumed worldwide are collected in the area of Teruel and surroundings. Laumont exports truffles to more than 35 countries around the world, with France as the main market. Last year, the company reached 10 million Euro in turnover with the export of this gourmet product in fresh, frozen and canned formats.
"Truffles are an ideal condiment that kitchen chefs know how to use. For that reason, we sell them mostly to distributors, who in turn supply luxury restaurants. To reach the final consumer more closely, we have developed a website where you can buy truffles without having to go to distributors. So far, we had been working in bulk, but for 3 years we have been packaging the product in all kinds of formats and enhancing our Laumont brand."
For more information:
Fernando Serra
LAUMONT
M:+34 615361123
fernando.serra@laumont.es
www.laumont.es