Until now Trinity-based growers Charlie Gallichan, of Woodside Farms, and Jamie Racjan, of Fungi Delecti, have competed to supply restaurants, hotels and shops with fresh vegetables and salad crops. Each has had their own client base and delivery service.
Having reached an agreement, Mr Gallichan’s farm is to concentrate on solely growing produce, which will be marketed and delivered by Fungi Delecti to both sets of customers.
Woodside is the Island’s biggest arable growing business, supplying the major supermarkets in the Channel Islands, and exporting produce to the UK, Europe and America.
Fungi Delecti focuses on growing niche produce, such as courgette flowers and herbs, and supplying products such as caviar, pastas and Asian larder staples.
‘We are two Trinity boys, who live close to each other so we got together to try to work out where both our strengths lay,’ Mr Gallichan said.
‘I wanted to concentrate on the growing side to keep the farm moving forward as the margins in farming are tight. Jamie wanted to stop importing fresh vegetables and to sell more locally grown crops and that is what we are going to do.’
Mr Racjan says as they were competing for the same business, he had to import produce such as carrots, cabbages and leeks to supply his customers – and that was a situation he was not entirely happy about. ‘You can’t buy produce from your main competitor, so a lot of the produce we were selling was imported because we could not get them over here,’ he said.
‘I walk my dog every day past Charlie’s fields that are full of leeks but I was having to bring them in from the UK or France because the person growing them was my competitor.
‘Now I will be able to sell locally grown leeks.’
Mr Racjan says Fungi Delecti will continue to grow speciality crops at their farm on the north coast.
Although Mr Gallichan and Mr Racjan will never be able to meet all local demand for fresh produce as not all crops can be grown in Jersey’s climate, they are hoping to increase business by diversifying into pre-prepared vegetable ranges and growing more niche crops to meet local demand from chefs and home cooks.
Fungi Delecti was founded by Jamie Racjan’s father, Mick, 25 years ago to produce speciality mushrooms. Today they sell more than 1,600 products to 200 wholesale customers, delivering Islandwide seven days a week. Mr Gallichan is the fifth generation of the family to head up the business.
