Irish food company Donegal Creameries has announced that Carbury Mushrooms, its joint venture with Connacht Gold Co-Operative Society, has agreed to merge with Monaghan Middlebrook Mushrooms.


The companies said that based on current levels of activity, the merger will create the largest player in the European mushroom industry, manufacturing approximately 5,000 tonnes of mushroom substrate and selling 40,000 tonnes of mushrooms annually to customers in the UK and Ireland, and employing approximately 1,500 people. The merged entity will trade under the Monaghan name and will continue to operate out of six locations in the UK and seven in Ireland.


“We expect that the increased efficiencies achievable through the pooling of management skills, allied to the production and logistical economies arising out of the increased turnover, can only be positive for our shareholders. Together with this, the medium term development potential of the surplus properties is not insignificant,” said Donegal managing director, John Keon.