Some sources claim that South Africa is grappling with a shortage of fresh mushrooms. The country has had several mushroom shortages in the past. In April, the mushroom shortage was caused by the shutting down of private mushroom farms and Denny's operations in Durban, having been destroyed by a fire in September last year. As it stands, there are only about 18 mushroom farms left in the country.
The shortage can also be largely attributed to none other than load- shedding. Managing executive at Denny Mushrooms, Gerbrandt Rust said: “Load-shedding creates a production challenge, as well as increased input costs."
Load-shedding directly impacts mushrooms as mushroom farms require lots of electricity, therefore, load-shedding and generator failures contribute to the shortage and affects quality.
Source: iol.co.za
