As growers are so often told, the key to enhancing the bottom-line is through product differentiation. When one Ulster grower found himself in a tight spot, he looked to medical research to develop a brand new product line.
Hughes Mushrooms has long been one of Northern Ireland’s largest growers. Kieren Hughes set out to trump the competition by looking at possible health benefits in the fungus’s content.
He analysed the possible health benefits of each vitamin and mineral, before discovering that one, selenium, was especially lacking in modern diets. Over a two-year development cycle, Hughes and his team then set about growing a strain that was especially rich in the nutrient.
Several studies have now suggested a link between cancer and selenium deficiency. A study conducted on the effect of selenium supplementation showed a significantly reduced occurrence of total cancers. Dietary selenium also prevents chemically induced carcinogenesis in many rodent studies. Selenium may also help prevent cancer by acting as an antioxidant or by enhancing immune activity.
So it seems that selenium is ‘the coming thing’, another ‘superfood’ to add to the list, and for Hughes, it seems destined to become an important means of creating an instant monopoly.
No comments yet