Fred Recchiuti, general manager of Avondale, PA-based Basciani Mushroom Farms, told The Produce News that the company continues to work diligently on its food-safety audit and related initiatives.

Basciani’s most recent third-party quality assurance and HACCP audit score was 99.24 percent, said Recchiuti. And it continues to be keenly conscious of sustainability as it continually looks for ways to reduce its carbon footprint.

“We’ve been urging all of our foodservice customers to switch from white corrugated colored packaging to Kraft colored,” noted Recchiuti. “Our practice has always been to accommodate our customers in pack sizes, and we are encouraging them to switch to Kraft brown regardless of the size. Kraft paper reduces the use of chlorine, which contains cancer-causing dioxides. We have also eliminated the use of chlorine as a sanitizer on our farms and switched to ozone systems. Ozonized water is organic as there are no chemicals involved.”

In early 2012, Basciani Mushroom Farms was featured on The Discovery Channel’s show “Epicurious.”

This three-minute tour was of the company’s “spotless farms,” said Recchiuti. “It is available to qualified produce buyers in VHS and DVD formats, and it’s great for food trade shows.”

The video is also available for viewing on the company’s renovated, highly graphic, colorful and informative website, www.bascianifoods.com. The site is more user-friendly, easy to navigate and provides visitors with a plethora of information about the company, its culture and its products. And it offers a multitude of recipes for consumers and trade professionals alike.

The company’s goal since its founding in 1925 has been to consistently deliver the finest quality fresh mushrooms to its customers, with the most intense focus on lightning-fast service.

“This focus on quality and service is legendary among our longtime customers,” Recchiuti pointed out. “We are growing, packing and shipping over 1 million pounds per week of every variety of mushrooms available.”

Basciani Mushroom Farms is also involved with the Mushroom Council in programs presented to college foodservice operators at Penn State University that are planned for this fall.

“Chefs in dining halls at Penn State are being taught about the benefits of blendability with mushrooms,” said Recchiuti. “We are participating by demonstrating how using more mushrooms on campus translates into lifelong health and nutritional benefits. By blending mushrooms with meat protein, the amount of valuable vitamins consumed is increased, the amount of fat is reduced and the flavor is outstanding.”

He also explained that mushroom volumes are currently very tight in the United States because the demand continually outpaces the supply. In response to the strong and growing demand, the company has a major expansion project in the works.

“Basciani Mushroom Farms has just broken ground on a 25-acre project,” said Recchiuti. “Because of the highly complex system of obtaining proper permits now required by the government that are related to the environment, such as facility design, it took us three years to get approval.”

He also referenced a report released on Aug. 20 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Statistic Service titled “Crop Report Confirms Mushroom Demand Continues to Grow.” It stated that the value of domestic mushroom production topped $1 billion for the fourth year in a row. The 899-million-pound crop from 2013-14 broke the previous year’s record value by $12 million.

Basciani Mushroom Farms will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2015. The company is a fourth-generation mushroom farm that was begun by the grandfather of Michael Basciani, who serves as company president today.