One of Eastern Europe’s most modern mushroom factories is located in the Romanian village of Szilágynagyfalu (Nușfalău), in the county of Sălaj, where around 300 employees produce export-quality white button and and oyster mushrooms.
Gergely Németi, 42, who saved money by working in Hungary for many years, set up one of the most modern mushroom farms in Europe 12 years ago. At that time, Romanian mushroom consumption was still insignificant, and customers were convinced that mushrooms were poisonous. Boglar Champ succeeded in convincing its customers that not only were the mushrooms not poisonous, but that they could even be produced organically. Now Gergely Németi is proud to say that he produces around 80% of the Romanian consumption.
“So far, I have spent about €7 million on developing the mushroom farm. I started the business with a €100,000 loan, which I used to buy a 2,000 m2 site, and today we grow mushrooms on more than 8,000 m2. We produce about 200 tonnes of mushrooms per week, which we sell mainly in Romania, but 5-10% of the harvest, about 80 tonnes, is exported to Italy and Hungary. Sometimes there are bad moments when the export is only 15-20 tonnes,” Gergely Németi, owner of Boglar Champ, told StiriAgricole.ro magazine.
The company’s highest export prices per kilo range from 2 to 7 lei, and the profits earned have allowed it to build the most modern mushroom-growing technology. Pesticides and chemicals are not used at all, the technology does not require them, and the houses are disinfected by steam after each harvest.
“Everything is automated. Via the internet, I can see from anywhere all the work processes, when what is happening. One example is the automatic irrigation system, which only needs to be set up once and irrigates the mushroom cultivation according to a predefined programme. In addition to production, we also needed to build cooling capacity. A cold store was needed where this large quantity of mushrooms could be kept between 0-2°C and cooled within 1 hour of picking. The mushrooms are sold daily, if we can’t sell them because they spoil quickly we have to throw them away. In November we are already working on about 4 hectares of cultivated area,” says Gergely Németi.
Obtaining organic certification could be the next step in the company’s life, but they could still be a serious risk because there is little experience with organic products in the country. Boglar Champ, which currently employs 340 people, has long-term plans to build a modern composting plant.
Source: StiriAgricole
