gent with alcohol. Every room is cleaned every day and there is a special disinfection with chlo- rine. We are planning internal maintenance to use in the best way available time of our people and to be ready for august, when the sales are expected to rise.”


Officine Alpi – 20 April


According to Officine Alpi, the situation for Ita- lian growers varies from company to company according to the distribution channels. “Some growers kept the usual productivity and sales, especially those selling to large-scale distribu- tion (supermarkets). Others are suffering more since local markets are not allowed everywhere and restaurants are open only for deliveries. Shops in mushroom farms closed to the public but arranged home delivery for private citizens. It is impossible to give numbers. For sure, the com- mon problem is managing pickers in compliance with the new safety regulations. On our side, we are lucky, since we operate with many different countries and we already have orders for equip- ment to be produced during the next months. For us respecting the new safety procedures is less troublesome, given the organization of our acti- vities and the layout of our offices and production plants. We are confident that the emergency will end soon, as the numbers in Italy are showing a constant decreasing trend.”


Ireland - Michael Flanagan, Walsh Mushroom Group - 1 April In Ireland, the first Corona patient was registered February 29th. There were 1500 deaths halfway May. Schools, pubs, restaurants etc. were closed to limit the outbreak. The Walsh Mushroom Group includes a phase III compost company, mushroom farms in Ireland and the UK and a marketing & distribution center. When the first signals from mainland Europe concerning Corona were heard, immediate action was taken by management, before the government implemen- ted them, regarding the health and safety of staff and business continuity planning. For instance, employees were no longer allowed to move from one company to another, and access to the com- panies by external people were prohibited. Given the nature of many company jobs, only a mino- rity could organize to work from home. The com- panies work strictly in accordance with the guidelines of the national health department. Posters from the department of health have been displayed throughout the premises. In order to guarantee personal distance as much as possible, the teams were split into smaller groups, sepa- rate breaks were taken, and shifts were used where possible.” Hygienic working has always been of high level in the Walsh companies, for example, hands have always been disinfected


with hand gel, and clean work clothes and hair- nets worn. Now this has been taken to an even higher level and education has increased. Since the outbreak, there has been a large run on hygiene articles. For their own use however, they still have enough in stock. All in all, it can be said that the work can continue at the Group, and alt- hough circumstances have clearly become more difficult, government policy has geared towards maintaining food supplies through this crisis.


Ireland – Donal Gernon, Teagasc,- 6 May


Following the outbreak of COVID 19 there had been a significant impact on the food service markets (hotels, restaurants) in Ireland and the UK. This had an immediate impact on a small cohort of Irish growers who supply these mar- kets. Many of them had to initially cut back pro- duction due to loss of sales, however retail sales increased by 10-20% which lead to mushrooms destined for food service markets being diverted into retail markets. Not all growers supply food service markets have climbed back to full pro- duction. These growers had to change their pro- duct mix from supplying mainly loose mushrooms to supplying pre-packs. The majo- rity of farms in Ireland are at full capacity as retails sales in both Ireland and the UK remain strong. A small number of growers are cautious of the threat of COVID 19 impacting the availabi- lity of pickers to harvest their crops so they redu- ced compost fills per week. Growers have put measures in place to mitigate for an outbreak of COVID-19 on their units and so far no farm has been significantly impacted by staff shortages due to the pandemic.


Serbia - Goran Stevic/ Johan Vogelzangs, Champicomp - 2 April The first Corona case in Serbia was on March 6.


Continued on p56 Ò


‘For the economy it’s terrible, really terrible’


Harvest team at Arad Mushrooms, Israel, with face masks. MUSHROOM BUSINESS 51


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