The new facility should double Gourmet Mushroom’s operations

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“Depending on market demand, we can scale the facility up two- or three-fold,” Law told MiBiz.

The new facility should double Gourmet Mushroom’s operations by the end of the year, if all goes as planned, Law said. Currently, the company’s California facility offers approximately 60,000 square feet of growing space between two farms that collectively produce about 1 million pounds of mushrooms per year. The Michigan facility offers up to a total of 200,000 square feet of space for future additions, Law said.

The company currently employs 45 workers at its Michigan facility and has plans to hire 35 more employees by the end of the year to support the increased production, Law said. The leadership and staff at DNP retained their positions at the company.

Gourmet Mushrooms financed the acquisition through a combination of debt via a U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan and personal financing. It also purchased an additional $1 million in new production and growing equipment over the last year.

The Michigan facility, located on U.S. 10 about 10 miles east of Ludington, will also move Gourmet Mushrooms closer to sources of material that mushrooms need to grow — namely, soybean hulls and sawdust, which can be bulky and expensive to ship.

The deal for DNP and the hiring of workers was welcome news for the Mason County community, said Kathy Maclean, president and CEO of the Ludington and Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s really exciting to have a local producer here and know that they are selling products to grocery stores like Whole Foods,” Maclean said. “It’s also great to have another large employer like that in Scottville that it’s been lacking.”