Phillips Mushroom Farms - Third
generation family-owned farm, growing
and packaging a wide variety of specialty mushrooms. Also featuring
prepared mushroom products and food ingredients, and an on-line gift
shop.
In the late 1920s, William W. Phillips pioneered mushroom farming in
Kennett Square, PA, "The Mushroom Capital of the World". The Phillips
Family, now in its third generation, has been growing top-quality
mushrooms ever since.
In 1927, William Phillips started with a small mushroom growing
business in Kennett Square, PA. His early experiments in using ice for
temperature control during summer months were a significant
breakthrough for the mushroom industry, allowing mushrooms to be grown
year round.
The tradition of Phillips family innovators continued. In 1961,
William's sons, Donald and Marshall, formed a partnership and expanded
the family growing operation into the packaging, marketing and
transportation of white button mushrooms throughout the New England
area. This operation expanded over the years until it was marketing 12
million pounds of white button mushrooms per year.
In 1980, Don and Marshall felt a need to diversify their business and
began experimenting with shiitake mushrooms that were grown indoors on
supplemental sawdust logs. Their dedication to this project enabled
them to become the first successful indoor shiitake growers in the U.S.
Additional mushroom varieties, innovative packaging and nationwide
promotional campaigns expanded the specialty mushrooms division
dramatically over the next 13 years. In 1993, Phillips Mushroom Farms
divested the white mushroom business in order to concentrate all of its
resources on specialty mushrooms.
State of the art technology, commitment to marketing and a personal
approach to their business have made Phillips Mushrooms Farms the
largest marketer of specialty mushrooms in the U.S.; distributing over
30 million pounds of specialty mushrooms annually.
*Phillips Mushroom Farms
1011 Kaolin Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348
USA
E-mail: info@phillipsmushroomfarms.com
http://www.phillipsmushroomfarms.com
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South Mill - Vertically integrated company that grows and distributes
mushrooms and other produce, headquartered in Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania.
In the late seventies, the mushroom industry was largely dependent on
the processing market. Mushroom growers nationwide were being severely
injured by the influx of very inexpensive imported canned mushrooms. As
a result, family-owned and operated mushroom farms that had been in
existence for several generations were forced out of business. It was
then, after 25 years as a compost supplier to most of these same
mushroom farmers, our family decided to boldly diversify our operations
by purchasing one of Pennsylvania’s largest mushroom farms from the
Clorox Corporation.
In 1983, with no previously arranged marketing contracts, South Mill
was faced with the challenge of selling its crop of fresh mushrooms,
which by the end of the first year totaled approximately 9,000,000
pounds. Initially, South Mill sold its mushrooms through local Kennett
Square mushroom brokers. The need for regional growth and independence
necessitated a strategy change and it was then our focus shifted from
brokers to selling directly to retail, wholesale, foodservice and
commercial processors. Under the newly created South Mill label, the
company embarked upon the challenge of selling the production of its
farms. Decades later, South Mill via its 24-hour, 7-days-a-week
customer service, seamlessly supplies over 55 million pounds of
mushrooms to expanded territories with a team driven tractor-trailer
fleet equipped with the latest communication technology.
In 1989, the southwest markets were targeted for expansion. It was then
that South Mill changed the way non-regionally produced mushrooms were
sold. By creating the first of many company-owned and operated
distribution facilities in strategically located major metropolitan
areas, operations in those cities were able to deliver unparalleled
service to regional retail and foodservice customers. Linking these
cities to our existing distribution system, South Mill successfully
“brought the farm to the market” in major city areas whose locations
and demographics supported an ever-expanding customer base. Our
distribution facilities have a centralized sales office located in
Dallas, Texas and each facility is fully staffed with experienced
distribution associates to better serve the retail, wholesale,
foodservice and processing industries in those specific regions.
South Mill is a vertically integrated company. We insure consistent
quality and supply through continuous innovations in production,
transportation, marketing and distribution and today service loyal
customers in over 35 states. As a pacesetter in a fiercely competitive
industry, South Mill has completed what is the first indoor mushroom
composting operation in the United States. Environmentally friendly and
operationally efficient, this tunnel system composts mushroom substrate
indoors under the controlled atmosphere of an entirely "closed loop"
system. As a result of this cutting edge technology South Mill
maintains an even greater production capacity with a more consistent
quality product providing a critical supply advantage unprecedented in
the industry.
Through the years, South Mill has become much more than a mushroom
company as it has expanded its portfolio of food products. We maintain
partnerships with import growers and suppliers throughout the world and
have confidently built and sustained relationships bringing to market
such exciting items as Hot-house Vegetables from Holland and Spain,
Italian and Greek Kiwi, Spanish Clementines, Argentine Apples and
Pears, just to name a few. Through our extensive market experience, we
encourage creative promotions with our customers and pledge to
continuously introduce innovative trends and the best practices we
observe in markets throughout the world. From the beginning, South
Mill’s employees have grown the business into much more than just a
mushroom company and we are extremely grateful and proud of our staff
members, many of whom have dedicated much of their adult life to the
success of our company. Our corporate philosophy is deeply rooted in
our privately held history of dedication and remains today the driving
force in our company; we think of ourselves as the customer!
*South Mill
649 West South Street
Kennett Square, PA 19348
PO Box 1037
USA
Tel: +1 (610) 444 4800
Fax: +1 (610) 444 1338
E-mail: info@southmill.com
http://www.southmill.com
