Gulf Mushroom to double production capacity

05/03/2015 06:05 AST

Oman's Gulf Mushroom Products Co SAOG, which operates the largest high-tech mushroom farming facility in the Middle East, plans to double its capacity on the back of strong exports and burgeoning domestic demand for its fresh produce.

The company is moving ahead with a strategy envisaging investments in a new compost manufacturing plant at Thamrait in Dhofar Governorate, as well as the construction of new mushroom growing rooms alongside its existing facilities in Barka. The goal, according to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, is to boost the company's mushroom production capacity by 100 per cent.

Khamis bin Mubarak al Kiyumi said in the Directors' report of the company's 2014 performance that a number of steps have already been initiated in driving Gulf Mushroom's expansion plans. Suitable land for the compost plant has been allocated by the government in Thamrait, with contracts already in place with reputed vendors for the supply of plant machinery.

"Construction of new mushroom growing capacity is in the design and approval stages. The company believes that the remaining approvals and clearances will be received and construction of the new compost plant and growing rooms will be completed in due course," the Chairman stated.

Established in 1997, Gulf Mushroom's Barka facilities currently produce around nine tonnes daily of its mainstay Champignon de Paris mushrooms alongside some quantities of giant white, brown button, portabella and baby white button mushrooms. Cultivation of premium oyster mushroom was also trialled during 2014. Significantly, around 90 per cent of Gulf Mushroom's output is exported, primarily to countries in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Production totalled 3,358 metric tonnes in 2014, up 3 per cent from 3,260 metric tonnes during the previous year.

Exports generated RO 5.5 million in sales revenues for the company in 2014, up from RO 5.311 million a year earlier. Total revenue for the year climbed 4 per cent to RO 6.139 million, from RO 5.902 million in 2013. Net profit after tax however fell 36 per cent to RO 326,000, from the previous year's net earnings of RO 511,000 - a decline attributed to the higher cost of sourcing compost from the market in the wake of the government-mandated closure of its existing compost making facility in 2013.

Oman Daily Observer