A CRAIGAVON agri-tech firm has sealed a £4 million deal with a Canadian mushroom grower.
Axis Technology & Development has said it will recruit seven additional staff after securing the contract with Highline Mushrooms.
The deal will see the company deliver 32 harvesting conveyors and 17 mushroom processing units to Canada.
Company director Alan Doake said its machinery had been developed to improve the mushroom harvesting and packing process by 100 per cent.
“Mushroom growers face a constant challenge of recruiting and retaining staff to harvest their crops. Traditional mushroom harvesting by hand is not only time consuming but can lead to a considerable amount of wastage,” he said.
“Our mushroom harvesting system combats these challenges and enables farmers to increase the volumes of mushrooms harvested.
“Utilising our system considerably increases the farm’s profitability through increased efficiency while also typically halving harvesting costs.”
The company said its efforts had been boosted by £120,000 in grant funding from Invest NI to support research and development.
