Bridge Mushrooms
We have been supplying the highest quality, fresh mushrooms to the UK market since 1988.
All of our mushrooms are grown with care and then carefully hand picked
Bridge Mushrooms is a modern mushroom production facility, located in Mayobridge Co.Down. We have been producing mushrooms at our site in Mayobridge for over 30 years and today employ over 75 people.
Established in 1988 we began growing mushrooms with one small growing room producing less than 2000 lbs per week of fresh mushrooms on single layer growing bags. Today our site comprises of 21 modern growing rooms containing Dutch shelving systems which allow us to produce over 60 tonne of fresh mushrooms per week.
Since 2007 we have been a member of Northway mushrooms. Northway Mushrooms was established in 2000 and is comprised of a group of over 20 Producers in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Together Northway produces over 30000 tonnes of mushrooms annually and employs over 1000 people. In 2019 Northway mushrooms opened the doors to a state of the art mushroom substrate manufacturing facility located outside Ballygawley Co.Tyrone capable of producing over 1000 tonne per week of mushroom substrate.
How We Grow
Step 1
Bales of straw sourced from local producers are mixed with poultry litter, water and gypsum. the materials are then mixed and filled into large aerated concrete bunkers. During this phase the substrate reaches temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius. This part of the process is known as phase 1. After 11 – 13 days the Phase 1 process is complete, ready for the Phase 2 process to begin.
Step 2
The phase one material is then moved by conveyor from the bunker into sealed tunnels, at this stage the temperature is closely monitored and controlled to achieve a process known as pasteurisation – this removes any unwanted organisms from the substrate. This process takes approximately 6 days. This is known as Phase two.
Step 3
The next step is to cool the substrate and remove it from the tunnels used in phase two. The next step is to add the mushroom spawn - this is a grain that has been sterilised and inoculated with mushroom mycelium. The Substrate is then filled into sealed tunnels for further incubation – around 17 days. At the end of this process the substrate is known as phase three mushroom substrate and is ready to be delivered to the growing facility.
The mushroom substrate is filled into the growing rooms using a machine known as a filling head, this machine also applies a layer of peat to the surface of the material. This is called the casing layer and is needed for the formation of the mushrooms, casing soil has a water buffering capacity so it can absorb water quickly and release it slowly which is important for the process, it also has an ideal structure to allow mycelium to grow through the casing soil.
The mushroom mycelium will then grow throughout the substrate and up through the casing layer. Inside the growing room we attempt to simulate the conditions of an autumn day, which promotes the formation of mushrooms. As a result, tiny mushrooms begin to appear.
During the next two weeks the levels of moisture, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and air movement are all monitored constantly. The pins eventually grow into mushrooms. The mushrooms are picked by hand and graded by size to ensure the highest quality possible.
After harvesting, mushrooms are prepared for sale and packaged for the customer. We have many different specifications in place to ensure all mushrooms are of the required quality. All mushrooms are packed as soon as possible to be delivered within the shortest time to ensure freshness for the customer. Once packed, the mushrooms are loaded onto refrigerated lorries for delivery to customers.
