He’s such fungi to work with

9:35am Friday 15th September 2006

AFTER 30 years perfecting the skill of growing mushrooms Mark Komatsu is the ideal man to front a new supermarket advertising campaign.

The 52-year-old, who is a senior manager at Oakfield Farm Products underground quarries in Bradford on Avon, has been appearing in a host of national magazines advertising the organic Crimini mushrooms, the farm's speciality. Mr Komatsu said: "I'm happy to promote the mushroom industry so anything that does that is good.

"It's also good to promote organic mushrooms and Bradford on Avon."

Crimini mushrooms are small chestnut button mushrooms which have a nutty flavour and are a popular part of Waitrose's organic range.

They are grown deep underground in five-and-a-half acres of disused mining caves and caverns, which have been used to grow mushrooms for more than 100 years. "It's the last underground farm in the country. It is a natural environment where nothing is forced," said Mr Komatsu. "The humidity and growing conditions favour production of the mushrooms."

Bags of spawned compost are placed in the caves and are left to grow slowly to develop their flavour. On maturity are picked by Mr Komatsu and his team all year round.

The mushrooms mature at different times and have to be carefully selected when they are the right size.

They are then picked fresh and shipped to Oakfield Farm Product's other organic farm in Worcester where they are packed and can be on the shelves in Waitrose the next day.

The farm is used to provide mushrooms commercially and is not open to the public because the mushrooms need to be left undisturbed.

Mr Komatsu said he is dependent on the skills and qualities of his team of 10, who are all from the local area.

He first became interested in mushroom growing 30 years ago after graduating from Bristol University.

"I graduated and got a teaching qualification but in those days it was difficult to get a teaching job so I was labouring on a mushroom farm," he said. "The managers found out I had a degree and asked if I would like to go into research.

"I went into research for 10 years but gradually all the research stopped and I went into the commercial side.

"I've been based in Bradford on Avon for 13 years but for a few years in the 70s I did some experimental work here."

The Waitrose adverts have made celebrities of other local farmers including Warminster sheep farmer Jim Dufosee, who featured in the Wiltshire Times in May.