• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
Tropical Mushrooms is the brainchild of founder and managing director Peter Nyathi. Photo: Supplied/Shoprite

How former farmworker built his own mushroom empire

26th May 2021
Dr Harry Malila, Head of Department and Accounting Officer for the Department of the Premier, Mayor Alderman Franken and minister of agriculture Ivan Meyer showing off freshly made sausage and patti. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Mobile factory brings agri-processing to rural farmers

21st May 2022
Lauren Strever of amorentia sweet dragon fruit estate and Nursery, Micheal Muller of Muller familie boerdery trust and Stephen Mantsho of the South African avocado growers association. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Farmer 101: Holy guacemole! Growing avos worth a try

20th May 2022
The North West department of agriculture and rural development has been allocated a budget of R1.2 billion to spend in the new financial year. However, they have days to report back on how exactly they plant to use this money. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

20th May 2022

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

20th May 2022

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

20th May 2022
Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association, says operating costs within the road freight and logistics sector have increased exponentially. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

20th May 2022
A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

20th May 2022
Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concludes today (Friday, 20 May). Global leaders are hoping for clear commitments on drought resilience and soil restoration before delegates head home. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

UN land conference: Soil, drought, gender top the talks

20th May 2022
Minister Ebrahim Patel has the eyes of the sugar industry on him as he delivers the department of trade, industry and competition's budget. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

‘Patel, don’t forget sugarcane Master Plan commitments’

20th May 2022
Pietermaritzburg farmer Andile Ngcobo counted among the thousands of visitors to Nampo. To allow for reduced daily capacity amid Covid-19 restrictions, the expo is held over a period of five days. Under the theme “Experience it”, organisers gave visitors a broad overview of the latest trends, equipment, vehicles and so much more offered to the agriculture sector. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

In pictures: Big toys (and smiles!) at Nampo

19th May 2022
Winter weather is coming, and farmers are advised to stay informed and to prepared as best they could to safeguard their fields and animals. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Weather warning: ‘Be extra cautious for pests, diseases’

20th May 2022
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that Kenya will now be using agricultural land from parastatals and giving it to private companies to prioritise the production of food and cash crops. Photo: Supplied/Unsplash

Kenya to hand over land to private companies

19th May 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Sun, May 22, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

    Driving local food security through research

    InnoFoodAfrica project brings food security home

    Iris Telmaggiers (fright), Sophie Sauir and Leoni Pasja harvesting green peppers from Sauir’s garden. Photo: Siphokazi Mnyobe

    Vegetable garden helps Iris cope with son’s death

    Agripreneur 101: Balance is key for this cannabis skincare producer

    Agripreneur 101: Meet a cannabis skincare producer

    Dr Obvious Mapiye, whose studies helped develop new livestock management software. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Dr Mapiye’s driven to help small-scale farmers commercialise

    Paballo Khoza is harvesting lettuce on his 6 000 square metre shade-netted farm in Westonaria Agri-Park. Photo: Magnificent Mndebele/Food For Mzansi

    Sweat, tears and dreadful walks: Khoza finally triumphs

    ‘Dream, then pursue it,’ urges tomato farmer

    Thabo Skhosana an emerging farmer in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal wants to motivate young farmers who wants to study agriculture. Photo: Supplied/ Food For Mzansi

    ‘The future is ours for the taking,’ says young farmer

    Agripreneur: Learn from a cannabis skincare producer

    Agripreneur: Learn from a cannabis skincare producer

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi
Home Changemakers Entrepreneurs

How former farmworker built his own mushroom empire

by Duncan Masiwa
26th May 2021
in Entrepreneurs, Groundbreakers
Reading Time: 8 mins read
A A
Tropical Mushrooms is the brainchild of founder and managing director Peter Nyathi. Photo: Supplied/Shoprite

Tropical Mushrooms is the brainchild of founder and managing director Peter Nyathi. Photo: Supplied/Shoprite

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When you ask 55-year-old Peter Nyathi how he went from being a farm labourer to owning his own commercially operating mushroom farm supplying more than 350 Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay supermarkets throughout the country, the answer is not straightforward.

Nyathi will tell you that it was not only because he took a leap of faith and decided to run solo, but also because he was able to tap into the experience of seasoned professionals.

“You cannot read from the book and start a mushroom farm, that is very risky. Experience and exposure helped me a lot. Those looking to get into this sort of farming must have a couple of years of experience,” Nyathi believes.

The owner of Tropical Mushrooms, an agribusiness whose mushrooms make their way onto the shelves of hundreds of retail stores in Mzansi, says he knew from a young age that he would end up a businessman.

ADVERTISEMENT

At that time, however, what kind of business he was going to pursue was not clear to the young boy who would turn out to become a passionate fungi farmer.

ALSO READ: How to start mushroom farming in 6 easy steps

Building a mushroom empire

Tropical Mushrooms is an independent, privately owned mushroom producer in partnership with Absa’s Resource Initiative Trust, which provided the initial financial support.

Peter Nyathi supplies over 350 retail stores in Mzansi. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Peter Nyathi supplies over 350 retail stores in Mzansi. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

The production facility is located on a 19-hectare farm in Gauteng and supplies retail stores in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State and the North West.

Nyathi, a Zimbabwean national, has over 15 years’ experience in the mushroom industry. He got his start after working for years as an agricultural economist in the agricultural ministry of Zimbabwe.

Tired of what he was doing, Nyathi made his way to SA and turned to primary agriculture. In 1993 he started working at Denny Mushrooms in Gauteng. The South African household brand operating for more 40 years produces their mushrooms under perfect conditions on three farms.

Peter Nyathi supplies over 350 retail stores in Mzansi. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Before pursuing his own dream, Peter Nyatie first sought out experience in the mushroom farming industry. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

He joined the mushroom producer as a trainee grower, and it is there where he began dreaming of starting his own farm. Eventually Nyathi became responsible for the company’s entire production.

By 1999 he wanted more, so he asked his boss about his future at the company and was not happy with the answer.

“I decided to take a leap of faith and start my own thing. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy,” he says about those early days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tropical Mushrooms commenced operations that year in August as an independent, privately owned mushroom producer.

Having an anchor

Nyathi believes that without God, his business would fail.

ADVERTISEMENT

“When you don’t have a strengthening point that supports you when you are really down, one can easily fail. Some people have mentors for that, but even mentors are limited in what they can help you with.

Nyathi says he remembers many a time when his faith was tested.

One such moment was when his business had been struggling for months. It got so bad that he feared not being able to pay the salaries of the 175 workers he employs. However, in the nick of time, SARS made a large pay-out to Tropical Mushrooms and he was able to pay salaries.

“Someone would say that it was coincidence, but for me, because of my faith I believed that that was God intervening in my situation. Let me tell you, there’s quite a number of these stories that I can tell,” Nyathi says.

When he started out, he spent about three-and-a-half years looking for funding. He eventually pitched his business plan to Absa and received financial support from them.  

Nyathi’s business is run in partnership with Absa’s Resource Initiative Trust that provided the initial financial support.

“Mushroom farming is very scientific, and it has a lot of pitfalls.”

Funding, he explains, is always a problem because of security. Funding institutions want farmers to have security, but most farmers do not have any because of their backgrounds, Nyati says.

“But I guess you have to strategise around it and ask yourself how I handle and deal with the insufficiency of security. I just hope that my children will be in a better situation than where I am,” Nyathi states.

Mushroom farming is tough. Countrywide, there are less than 15 commercially operating mushroom farmers. Nyathi believes that this is indicative of how tough the space is.

“Mushroom farming is very scientific, and it has a lot of pitfalls,” he says.

“I started with R5 million 21 years ago and it was not enough, and that was on a minimum entry level. Today R10 million is not enough to get you started – that’s why people don’t bother. If you start smaller than that you will never shift and grow. You will eventually close down.”

The technical challenges, he says, are also huge. Nyathi’s advice to those looking to get into this sort of farming, is to have a couple of years of experience.

RECIPE: Seasonal mushroom and chicken pasta

Never stop learning

While the road has not been easy, Nyathi says he is proud that he is able to share his profits with his employees.

Tropical Mushrooms employs more than e 175 farmworkers. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Tropical Mushrooms employs more than e 175 farmworkers. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

In 2005 he created an employee trust that allows his workers to take a share of the dividends at the end of a good year. Government bought a 18% share on behalf of the workers through the department of land affairs’ LRAD grant programme.

This transaction saw the establishment of the Tropical Mushrooms Employees’ Shareholder Trust (TEST).

Along the road, Nyathi has also scooped a number of awards. In 2003 he was awarded the Africa SMME (small, medium and micro-enterprises) award for agriculture through the Africa Centre for Investment Analysis.

Two years later, he was first runner-up in Sanlam’s business owner of the year competition. 2007 saw him walking away with the entrepreneur of the year award in Absa’s incubator fund and in 2009 he was declared “emerging farmer” of the year for Gauteng in the Agricultural Writers SA awards.

Mushroom farmer Peter Nyathi has scooped a number of awards. Here he is receiving the 2019 Pick n Pay Small Supplier of the Year award. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
Peter Nyathi has scooped a number of awards. Here he is receiving the 2019 Pick n Pay Small Supplier of the Year award. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

“I think I am where I am because of the efforts that I’ve made. Also, you can never stop learning. For you to grow you have to continue learning. You can’t (use consultants) on everything; at some stage you need to be able to do the majority of the things in-house because you have the knowledge. Consulting means more money is going out of your business.”

Peter says he would like others to learn from his journey and understand the importance of mapping out their future.

Tropical Mushrooms is still small, he says, and has only 10% of the South African market.

“We still have scope to grow and look at diversification. This is important, because if things do not work out in one area, there is something else to keep us going.”

Nyathi recently ventured into vegetable farming and also owns a cosmetic company.

ALSO READ: Mushroom farmer works to make other families self-sustaining

Tags: Denny MushroomsExperienced farmersGauteng farmersmushroom cultivationMushroom farmermushroomsMushrooom farming South AfricaPeter NyathiPick n PayShoprite Checkers
Share196Tweet123Send
Duncan Masiwa

Duncan Masiwa

DUNCAN MASIWA is a budding journalist with a passion for telling great agricultural stories. He hails from Macassar, close to Somerset West in the Western Cape, where he first started writing for the Helderberg Gazette community newspaper. Besides making a name for himself as a columnist, he is also an avid poet who has shared stages with artists like Mahalia Buchanan, Charisma Hanekam, Jesse Jordan and Motlatsi Mofatse.

Related Posts

Mathoke Phaladi’s agribusiness grows hydroponic fodder using barley grains. This, he believes, gives the best yield of nutrients of the green grasses, containing an abundance of nutrients unsurpassed by any other type of grass. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Mathoke leads the hydroponic fodder wave

by Nicole Ludolph
7th Mar 2022
0

Mathoke Phaladi grows hydroponic fodder all-year round. He tells Food For Mzansi, “Some are still sceptical, but I’m thinking over...

Farmer 101: Level up with these farming trends

Farmer 101: Level up with these farming trends

by Terri-Ann Brouwers
28th Jan 2022
0

Mushrooms, blueberries, kiwis and other high-value crops are the way to go, advised experts in this #GatherToGrow interactive session. That...

Podcast: Explore these niche markets in Mzansi

Podcast: Explore these niche markets in Mzansi

by Nicole Ludolph
15th Dec 2021
0

There are many opportunities for the intrepid smallholder amongst South Africa's niche markets, says agricultural economist Lunathi Hlakanyane. Kiwis, blueberries...

Johannesburg urban farmers area heaving a collective sigh of relief after Rand Water announced that it had finished its scheduled maintenance. Photo: Supplied/Pexels

ICYMI: Rand water back, farmers breathe sigh of relief

by Duncan Masiwa
18th Nov 2021
0

In case you missed it: Rand Water announced on Wednesday that it has finished refurbishing its raw water pipeline on...

Mzansi Flavour

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

by Noluthando Ngcakani
20th May 2022
0

She started her career in the food industry as a waiter, but now chef Nelly Engelbrecht is wowing diners with...

Read more

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

20th May 2022
Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association, says operating costs within the road freight and logistics sector have increased exponentially. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

20th May 2022
A burning passion for education and agriculture made it easy for Evelyn Fisher to fulfil her aspirations in the form of an agri academy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

20th May 2022
Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concludes today (Friday, 20 May). Global leaders are hoping for clear commitments on drought resilience and soil restoration before delegates head home. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

UN land conference: Soil, drought, gender top the talks

20th May 2022

Starting her agri academy a lifelong dream fulfilled

Food export bans are hurting local communities

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

Vegetable garden helps Iris cope with son’s death

Kenya to hand over land to private companies

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 11 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

Mobile factory brings agri-processing to rural farmers

Farmer 101: Holy guacemole! Growing avos worth a try

Portfolio committee not letting NW officials off the hook

This chef is taking fine dining in Kimberley to the top

Recipe: Butternut soup to go absolutely nuts for

Perfect fuel storm in the road freight, logistics industry

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
WhatsApp line: +27 81 889 9032
Marketing: +27 71 147 0388
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version