The Denny mushroom farm in Phesantekraal outside Cape Town, which employs 376 people, will close at the end of the year. Denny is part of the Libstar food group, which announced this decision in its half-year results on 16 September.
"It is sad," said Charl de Villiers, CEO of Libstar, about the closure of the fresh mushroom plant. "This is not a decision that is taken lightly, but it was after much consideration.
"This is a major development in the South African mushroom ecosystem. We have been in discussions with various parties for some time to sell our investment in Denny, as we want to be a value-added business. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a meaningful commercial agreement.
"Unfortunately, this put us in a position where we had to look in the mirror and realise we were suffering losses. Therefore, we had to make the difficult decision to close the plant." He said with regard to the employees of the Phesantekraal plant, Libstar has commenced labor consultation on the closure. "Where possible, affected staff will be absorbed into other business units."
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