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Philip Burdon and Meadow Mushrooms

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TitlePhilip Burdon and Meadow MushroomsDescriptionFrom Cyprus to Prebbleton, the intriguing story of Meadow Mushrooms and how it grew to become New Zealand’s largest producer of mushrooms. Philip Burdon and his friend Roger Giles started experimenting with growing mushrooms in Cyprus in 1968, and in 1970 established another operation in Burdon’s home town of Canterbury.

The pair earmarked four hectares of land on Springs Road in Prebbleton as the ideal spot to locate their growing sheds. It was also conveniently surrounded by racing stables, stud farms and racecourses for easy access to wheat straw and manure for compost. Despite the naysayers, the co-founders preserved with their fungi dream. Back then Meadow Mushrooms grew the ubiquitous white button mushroom and employed only a handful of employees. Today the business employ over 500 staff, and hand-pick over nine million mushrooms every week!

As the business grew, some operations were moved to bigger premises in Wilmers Road, Hornby, with the owners embarking on huge expansion project. In 2019, the original Prebbleton site was decommissioned.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for Meadow Mushrooms. As a residential area sprouted up around the growing sheds in Springs Road (and the new plants in Wilmers Road, Hornby), so too did the complaints. Prebbleton residents objected to the foul odour intermittently emanating from the factory, with some comparing it to a “dead carcass”. Environment Canterbury (ECan) fielded dozens of complaints about the odour, eventually resulting in the company spending millions to mitigate the odours. To add to the company woes, the plant at Prebbleton also was damaged by fire in January 2012.

Meadow Mushrooms is now wholly owned by the Burdon family. If mushrooms are a fragile fungi, the family's ties are strong. Burdon family members occupy various board positions and Philip's daughter Miranda is chair. Philip has maintained his co-founder status and in 2016 was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame. It was a proud moment when Philip and Miranda took the stage to receive the EY 2018 Family Business of Excellence Award.

First NamePhilipLast NameBurdonOther Biographical InformationPhilip Burdon was an MP from 1981 to 1996, representing the National Party. He was first elected to Parliament in the 1981 elections as MP for the Christchurch electorate of Fendalton, and was re-elected for that electorate until leaving Parliament at the 1996 elections.

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PlacePrebbletonMore InformationMay 2017 Stuff article on the objections to the odour from Meadow Mushrooms in Prebbleton Last edited by: Sarah Davy

The Meadow Mushrooms Story on the Meadow Mushrooms website Last edited by: Sarah Davy

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Philip Burdon and Meadow Mushrooms