Sales Soar at Dungannon Mushroom Grower
Dugannon firm Hughes Mushrooms has doubled turnover in four years as it has expanded its business throughout Britain.
The family-run company has just posted revenue of £28.75 million for the year to December 2014 and directors have vowed to further increase market share.
The company supplies 240 tonnes of mushrooms to UK supermarkets every week including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.
And last year, it launched an own-brad range of stuffed mushrooms and discounter Aldi.
Annual accounts filed at Companies House in Belfast detail the sharp rise in fortunes for the firm which was founded in 1964.
Sales have grown by 20 per cent last year and 23 per cent in 2013.
The bottom line is improving too with profits after tax amounting to £742,323 in 2014.
The company works with a network of more than 25 growers across Northern Ireland to supply a range of white and chestnut mushrooms.
The company was founded in 1964 on the site of the Trew and Moy Railway Station, which closed the same year.
Founder Kevin Hughes started the business when he invested in a small lorry to offer local growers an alternative means of transport to get into market.
The firm remain family-run with the founder’s son, Kieran Hughes, serving as managing director and his sons Emmet, Ciaran Og, Daniel and Brian working at various roles within the business.
The company recently won a Waitrose Way Award which recognises best practice to suppliers to deliver its ethical and sustainability objectives.
Hughes Mushrooms director Emmet Hughes said: “We’ve been working with Waitrose for seven years and this is a very strong endorsement for the work we are doing. It’s great that our mushrooms, and the business behind it, are getting recognition at the very highest levels within the food retailing industry in the UK. It’s also a result of the hard work and dedication of our employees and network of dedicated growers in Northern Ireland.”
Source: irishnews.com
