Posts Tagged “South Mill Champs”
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. – South Mill Champs, one of North America’s largest growers and suppliers of fresh mushrooms and mushroom products announced the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art farm in Oxford, Pa.
The new facility will be one of North America’s largest single-site mushroom farms and one of the largest phase 3 composting operations. The grand opening marks the completion of the first phase of the multi-year, multi-phase farm and compost operation buildout.
“We’ve been innovating since the beginning,” said Mike Pia Jr., VP of Business Growth at South Mill Champs. “Our family has been producing compost and growing mushrooms for over 90 years in Pennsylvania. Our approach is, and has always been, to stay nimble and adapt to new technologies as they become available and proven. There is a growing demand for fresh quality produce, and we want to meet that demand with the best product possible for our partners and, ultimately, the consumer. This new facility will allow us to do just that.”
Green initiatives, including solar panels and water reducing processes and technologies, are being implemented at this facility in line with the company’s commitment to sustainability and water stewardship. Once fully implemented, on an annual basis, the facility will generate the majority of its electricity from a renewable source, capture and reuse millions of gallons of rain and wastewater, and upcycle thousands of tons of agricultural byproducts and other waste materials in the making of compost.
South Mill Champs is a leading vertically integrated compost producer, grower, and supplier of North American-grown fresh mushrooms and functional mushroom foods. Headquartered in Kennett Square, PA, South Mill Champs is a leading innovative and customer-focused supplier. It offers mushrooms and other products with full-service logistics and storage and has a reputation for superior quality and consistent supply.
South Mill Mushrooms of Pennsylvania, Champs Mushrooms of British Columbia and Loveday Mushroom Farms based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, merged between 2017 and 2020 to form South Mill Champs. Together, South Mill Champs supplies fresh mushrooms and other produce to customers in all segments of the mushroom marketplace throughout the United States and Canada.
In November 2020, South Mill Champs expanded its distribution capabilities with the opening of a new distribution center in Winter Haven, Florida. In December 2020, the company acquired The Mushroom Company, a full line mushroom processor located in Maryland. During 2021 and 2022, South Mill Champs established distribution capabilities in Sacramento and Indianapolis and expanded its fresh mushroom production capacity in British Columbia, Manitoba and Pennsylvania.
Mushroom grower South Mill Champs of Kennett Square, PA has purchased a new distribution center in Lakeland, Fla.
The 30,000-square-foot-plus food-grade facility will get the upgrades necessary for mushroom processing and then start commissioning it in November, according to a news release.
South Mill Champs operates a network of distribution centers, including Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles.
The centers provide onsite, fresh-sliced, high-quality mushrooms directly from the company’s Pennsylvania and British Columbia farms. Also, the distribution centers provide seasonal produce items to the local foodservice and retail markets.
“Our expansion into Florida is in line with our mission as we meet the increasing demand from our customers, many of which have a significant presence in this key market,” CEO Lewis Macleod.
National mushroom retail sales are more than 20 percent ahead of last year in dollars and 17 percent ahead in pounds, according to an analysis of retail data through September 6, published by the Mushroom Council.
The retail insights also show that mushrooms have placed in the top 10 of fruits and vegetables with the highest year-over-year absolute dollar gains for 26 straight weeks.
“We expect that market demand for mushrooms will continue to increase,” Macleod said, “as mainstream consumers become increasingly educated on the health and environmental benefits of mushrooms.”
South Mill Champs of Kennett Square, PA., has acquired Loveday Mushroom Farms of Winnipeg, Manitoba, allowing it to ship product
to all major population areas in North America within 48 hours.
The company also has launched a number of new products including stuffed mushroom caps — and large crimini mushrooms stuffed with flavored cheese. They come in spinach and artichoke, Mediterranean and pizza flavors.
Minute Mushrooms, part of the growing value-added line of products offered by South Mill Champs, come in three varieties — Sautéed Portabella Mushrooms, Garlic Herb marinated mushrooms and Steak Sizzlers portabella mushrooms and onions — and provide a 60-second solution to mushroom side dishes and add-ons at home.
The company reports despite challenges presented by COVID-19, South Mill Champs will have an additional 15 million pounds of mushrooms in 2021 to support continued growth.