South Mill grows nearly forty million pounds of mushrooms annually in company owned and operated farms in the Kennett Square, Pennsylvania area. As a result of vertical integration, we maintain total control over both supply and quality of our product. South Mill is presently engaged in a production expansion project that will implement state-of-the-art technology presently being utilized successfully in Europe. As a result of this cutting edge technology, South Mill maintains an even greater production capacity with a more consistent quality product.
South Mill is the first mushroom farm in the United States to conduct Phase I composting, completely indoors, under a controlled atmosphere. Environmentally friendly and operationally efficient, this “tunnel” system composts mushroom substrate indoors under the controls of an entirely "closed loop" system. Along with the Phase I tunnels, this project includes the construction of bulk Phase II tunnels which should be in operation by the end of 2001. The bulk Phase II process will allow us to shorten the cropping time in our growing rooms thereby increasing the turns per year within our production rooms. The Phase II operation will yield an even greater increase in South Mill’s production capacity providing our company a critical supply advantage over our competition.
Testimonial:
“I am so proud to be associated with the owners and staff of South Mill in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. For the last thirty years of my career, I have watched this company grow their business from what was initially just a growing facility into today what is a leading supplier of mushrooms and produce nationwide. From the early days to the fiercely competitive business arena today, South Mill has remained dedicated to environmentally friendly mushroom production within the hundreds of communities surrounding their production facilities.
South Mill is the first in the United States to construct a commercial composting facility implementing the latest European technology, which brings the composting process from outside, to a completely controlled atmosphere indoors. As a result of this massive environmentally friendly and socially responsible investment, South Mill has decreased, by half, the time it takes to produce a more consistent and biologically efficient substrate benefiting their customers with a year-round, consistent supply of quality mushrooms. This cutting edge technology reduces, by 95%, odors from the substrate preparation process, dramatically decreasing the acres of housing allocated for mushroom production.
In the future, I see the use of chemicals and pesticides utilized in mushroom production being weeded out of the process, and I am sure that South Mill will be leading the way in that initiative, also by providing the purest possible products to their customers through the most environmentally safe technology in the industry.” - Paul Meijer, Mushroom Growing Technology Expert
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