With an investment of nearly 900 million forints we have expanded our mushroom farm in Ócsa. Due to the expansion, the cultivation capacity of the company has risen by 50 percent, the number of staff has also increased by 30 percent. The investment of nearly 900 million forints started in 2012 with the help of a remarkable amount of state grant as well as a 6-year term investment credit provided by K&H.
The mushroom house, which is unique in Hungary, was built on the base of Dutch technology in 2008, the new premises have been used since this spring. During the expansion, beside the former eight growing rooms, four new ones were built on the mushroom farm and we also formed new cooling, packing and forwarding units. The expansion that is also significant within the Hungarian horticultural sector makes continuous mushroom growing possible, independently from seasons, which is really important because of the increased demands.
Only the companies that apply modern growing technology can meet the quality requirements set by the export market and retail chains. This is the reason why the investment has such a great significance. At present in Hungary 25 thousand tons of white button mushroom, 2300 tons of oyster mushroom and 10-20 tons of shiitake are grown every year.
40-45 per cent of this amount is exported, and only 2 per cent of the European-grown mushroom gets to Hungary. The amount of mushroom that appeared on the European Union’s market in 2010 was more than one million ton, and among vegetables and fruits, mushroom is one that Hungary can grow at export standard. The economic potential of the sector can be shown by the fact that according to several studies and the latest results, Hungarian mushroom growing can increase to 50-70 thousands of tons per year, in addition, the number of workers employed in the sector would grow from 3-5 thousands to 8-10 thousands. The production value can reach 35-40 billion forints per year in contrast to the present 12-13 millions.
