Dutch mushroom specialist Banken Mushrooms is in talks with CNC, a co-operative Dutch mushroom growers' association which produces compost and processes mushrooms.

The deal would give the new group complete control over the whole supply chain from compost production through to mushroom-growing, packing and marketing to retailers and caterers as well as canning and processing.

"Shareholders of CNC have already agreed to the takeover, we are now just finalising the details," said Rob Banken, financial director of the 30-year-old family firm.

"For Banken it will mean we will have very firm volumes from the Netherlands and Poland and a strong parent company so we can develop a lot on the marketing and category marketing side for our European customers."

Banken has sales of 650 tonnes of mushrooms a week including 180t from its own production plants in Belgium.

As well as the two farms, it also has trading operations in Germany, Poland, France and the UK as well as the Netherlands. The new arrangement with CNC will preserve the Banken name, and will give it full traceability right back to the compost in which its mushrooms for the fresh market are grown.

CNC is wholly owned by its grower-shareholders, who grow exclusively for the processing sector. CNC has one of the largest mushroom processing factories in Europe.

Negotiations are expected to be complete early in the New Year.

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