Kirk Wilson, the newly appointed regional sales manager for Country Fresh Mushroom Co. headquartered in Toughkenamon, PA, said the company has continued its efforts to provide its partners with the freshest product and innovative packaging.

“Whether it is our soon-to-be unveiled environmentally friendly packaging, or our convenient ‘Personal Portion Portabella,’ we encourage all visitors to the PMA [Produce Marketing Association] Fresh Summit to look for these and other exciting items at the Country Fresh booth, number 1607,” Wilson said.

Country Fresh Mushroom’s product offerings have expanded from fresh, quick blanched and individual quick frozen, normally referred to as IQF, mushrooms to now include a value-added line.

Country Fresh is the industry’s first solar powered mushroom farm now on line. The farm is 100 percent self-sufficient, generating enough energy to power 70 households. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1,500 tons annually, which equates to driving three million miles.“In an effort to partner with our customer we believe the ‘added value’ is the convenience and efficiency of a one-stop-shop for many domestic and imported produce items,” said Wilson. “Our customers can now place a single order for not only premium mushrooms, but also a variety of specialty items, allowing for greater efficiency at the time of ordering as well as upon receiving. You can see the full array of our value-added line and learn more about the other exciting offerings during the PMA Fresh Summit.”

Wilson added that it has been a very busy but exciting year at Country Fresh. The company has settled into a new state-of-the-art packing facility, and its value added program has been well received by its customer base. As a result of the line, Country Fresh has named Chris Johansen to the position of produce specialist.

“Chris has been with Country Fresh for three years, and he will continue to work in the customer service department where he will continue to grow our value-added program,” said Wilson.

“Most recently, Lisa Mace joined our customer service team,” he continued. “Lisa comes to us with 19 years of produce experience in sales, customer service and transportation, which is all a great benefit to our team.”

Adding to the excitement is its progress on the sustainable and environmental fronts. Country Fresh is the industry’s first solar powered mushroom farm now on line. The farm is 100 percent self-sufficient, generating enough energy to power 70 households. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1,500 tons annually, which equates to driving three million miles.

“In combination with our new sustainable packaging developments, we believe that Country Fresh is most certainly an industry leader in sustainability,” said Wilson.

He noted that the company has noticed a significant increase in both retail and food service sales.

“Mushrooms are becoming more popular as the consumer continues to source healthy dietary options,” he said. “We expect the upcoming holiday demand to be higher than normal, which will create some supply and demand pressures. Recent changes in the industry have taken a significant portion of supply out of play and as a result, the industry could see a challenging holiday period.”

He also said that the industry is looking for alternative and more creative uses for mushrooms. The “Swap It or Top It” and “Blendability” campaigns are great examples of the industry finding creative ways to increase consumption of mushrooms.

He also explained that the operating environment continues to be challenging.

“For the most part the industry has kept up with consumers’ changing buying patterns as well as customer’s requests, such as sustainable packaging, enhanced food-safety procedures and traceability,” said Wilson. “Continuing to absorb these costs is no longer tenable. The goal of most producers has been to maintain market share with static pricing while almost all costs continue to increase, thus losing sight of the big picture. As a result the viability of some producers is questionable.”

He added that the most recent changes to the hours of service regulations recently implemented by the Department of Transportation have greatly affected the industry.

“We are still working our way through the changes: aligning our lanes, loading patterns and delivery schedules,” he said. “The bottom line is that we will need more drivers and more trucks to deliver our current production which, of course, increase costs and shrinks already tight margins.”