For the mushroom industry, the Christmas season is usually followed by a short period of rest. Also for Ramazan Gülnar, managing director of Paris Direkt LLC with its seat in Münster, the suitable moment to look back on the past financial year. The mushroom wholesaler sees an amazing increase in turnover in all areas of the mushroom industry.
Mr. Gülnar looks back favourably on the past Christmas season: He could serve all customers and orders problem-free. "Fine white mushrooms, and also wild mushrooms from Portugal, France and Tunisia we were able to sell quite well. Porcini mushrooms from South Africa and Italian truffles are also becoming increasingly popular. But also outside the Christmas season we see an increasing demand for different mushroom varieties, such as Portobello as a vegan meat substitute."
Multi-digit sales growth
The customer base of the Münster mushroom wholesaler has expanded massively in recent years. "Depending on the clientele, we pack our goods either directly at the growers or here at the production site in Münster. We originally come from the forest mushroom sector, but now we also offer a wide range of cultivated mushrooms. In this area, too, we now work together with cooperation partners in all major growing regions, whether in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland or Asia. It is still important to us to cover all areas of the trade, which is why we offer all our mushrooms as premium and standard products," Gülnar outlined.
In addition to the gradual entry into the cultivated mushroom sector, the managing director also feels an increasing demand for organic products. "In the case of cultivated mushrooms, we are even talking about a current share of around 70 percent. As far as wild mushrooms are concerned, we are in the process of establishing a new product line of dried organic products. Our aim is to expand the range even further and ultimately to supply these products to the food retail trade as vital mushrooms on appropriate displays. Altogether this scene will contain up to 90 percent organic mushrooms and about 20 different varieties. However, it will be less about edible mushrooms but more about powders which are increasingly used as superfood to refine dishes, sauces or smoothies."
Necessary capacity expansion
The rapid growth in customers and turnover has resulted in the company being working at full capacity at its current location in Münster-Roxel. "Our current operating area is slowly but surely becoming too small. Therefore, we are currently planning a considerable expansion of capacity so that we can continue to serve existing and new customers in the future."
For more information:
Paris Direkt GmbH
GF: Ramazan Gülnar
Lise-Meitner-Straße 7b
48161 Münster
Tel.: +49 2534 977540
info@paris-direkt.net
www.paris-direkt.net