The Growtime company has been steadily increasing exports and securing the confidence of major agricultural enterprises worldwide.

How GROWTIME and Osatina Grupa came together: a leap of faith that paid off

GROWTIME has again signed a contract with Osatina Grupa, a leading agricultural company in Croatia, for the supply of Newton mushroom picking lorries. Osatina Grupa, headquartered in the beautiful Đakovština area, is renowned for its comprehensive agricultural operations, including fruit and vegetable farming, dairy and meat production, animal feed production, and the generation of bioenergy. Their diversified and synergistic business model, which has been perfected over more than 25 years, emphasizes sustainability and modern technology.

The story of our collaboration with Osatina Grupa is one of risk, trust, and long-term success. As a large and innovative corporation, Osatina Grupa was a highly sought after business partner. They had numerous offers, many of which were less costly than what GROWTIME could provide. Negotiations during the COVID-19 pandemic added to the challenge, as physical presentations of our products were limited and travel was impossible due to the restrictions imposed.

Despite these hurdles, our high-quality and efficient products and the promise of lower overhead in the long run convinced Osatina Grupa to choose GROWTIME. They decided to take a risk on our more expensive Newton mushroom picking trolleys, driven by the argument that these high-quality devices would be more cost-effective over time.

A decision proven right
The initial cost of our trolleys appeared higher, but the investment was projected to pay off through superior performance and reliability. Osatina Grupa’s faith in our products was validated when they returned to GROWTIME for more of the same Newton picking trolleys a few years later, proving the wisdom of their original decision. This repeat business speaks volumes about the quality of our offering.

For GROWTIME, a client returning for the same product is the highest form of endorsement. It underscores that the initial investment, despite the higher initial price, was justified by the long-term benefits. The repeated orders from Osatina Grupa confirm the value and effectiveness of our solutions, showcasing our dedication to developing products that align perfectly with customer demands.

Cutting-edge Newton as well Pascal trolleys drive GROWTIME’s global success
A key driver behind this international success is GROWTIME's innovative products such as Newton & Pascal mushroom picking trolley. Known for their exceptional quality and cost-effectiveness, the Newton and Pascal trolleys has quickly become a favorite among large-scale mushroom producers. It was Osatina Grupa’s top choice then, and it’s their top choice now.

The trolleys feature from Growtime a robust design and user-friendly functionality, including electric drives and winches that automate the movement of the platform. This not only improves the ergonomics of the work but also increases the yield by allowing more precise and efficient picking. Additionally, the trolleys are equipped with advanced safety features and easy-to-use controls, ensuring both high performance and worker safety.

Moreover, Newton as well Pascal lorries ensure a quick return on investment due to their aforementioned low maintenance costs and high effectiveness. This combination of reliability and efficiency has made them a preferred option for agricultural enterprises looking to optimize operations and reduce overhead. For more information about the Newton mushroom picking trolleys and to explore GROWTIME's full range of products, visit this link.

GROWTIME, an expert in the area of increasing the productivity of mushroom farms, is developing its flagship products: the PASCAL and NEWTON mushroom picking lorries are getting even better.
For people who have not yet had contact with GROWTIME’s mushroom picking lorries, it's worth mentioning that they are high-end devices that increase the profitability of mushroom farms by automating, facilitating and accelerating mushroom picking.

New product features include:
● Green energy – an innovative system for recovering electricity by charging batteries while braking the drives (thus creating the so-called green energy).
● Controller temperature monitoring system – a solution that controls the temperature of electronic components controlling the device, which guarantees their protection from potential damage.
● Incident communication system – a system informing (through the remote control and the control box) about the arising situation related to, for example, overload of a given drive or low battery charge, etc.

If you have not yet explored the possibilities of GROWTIME’s mushroom picking lorries, we encourage you to visit their product pages:
● PASCAL mushroom picking lorry – https://growtime.eu/en/produkt/pascal-picking-trolley/
● NEWTON mushroom picking lorry – https://growtime.eu/en/produkt/newton-picking-lorry/

Find out how such solutions can increase the profitability of your mushroom farm as well!

Vandechamp, a reliable customer of Mush Comb, has placed a new order for 12 pieces Compact+ picking lorries again. This is because of the good results from the first batch of 24 pieces Compact+ picking lorries. The second batch of 12 pieces Mush Comb delivered this week.  

Advantages of our Compact+ picking lorry.

The pickers stand as close as possible to the shelving and can reach all heights through automatic. The Compact+ Picking Lorry is designed so that it fits through all working doors, which means no dismantling of the platform or tipping of the frame.

The safety features are tested thoroughly and comply with the conditions of the increased labour inspections.

The Compact+ Picking Lorry is developed, because the market lacked an effective picking lorry that is compact, foldable and can be handled all by the picker herself. The Compact+ Picking Lorry can be driven, hung on and taken off the rails all independently by the picker herself.

Reference Vandechamp:
The compact+ Lorrie is driving smoothly from one cell to the other and you can hang the lorry effortlessly on the rail. Once the lorry is hanging, you can easily go up and down via the control panel. You only need 1 person for the lorry, which makes a huge difference in personnel compared to the older lorries. Safety is reflected in this trolley. This has been well thought out. We are very satisfied with these lorries. It saves us manpower and the staff is also very satisfied. Only praise!

Are you also interested in one of our compact+ picking lorry?
Please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit their website.

A Picking Lorry that is not produced for a grower, but with a grower?
That is correct! This Picking Lorry is developed together with a Dutch grower who had one simple wish:
"Make me a Picking Lorry which is worker friendly too."

The pickers stand as close as possible to the shelving and can reach all heights through automatic
The Compact+ Picking Lorry is designed so that it fits through all working doors, which means no dismantling of the platform or tipping of the frame.

Recently we delivered 60 pieces Compact+ picking lorries to Geurts Champignons in Millheeze, 20 pieces to Agarica in Hoogeveen and 8 pieces to AK Champignons in Hoenzadriel. All those orders are the second batch they ordered because of the good results from the first batch.
The big benefit of those Compact+ picking lorries are that the picker can handle this lorry by herself completely. No help needed from a second person to transfer the lorry to another room. Further they are almost maintenance free and the battery will last for more than two weeks.

Do you want to know more about the picking lorries? See here!

     

More than 13 years of discussions with mushroom growing farm owners around the world convinced us to make one statement: one of the main factors generating significant costs for mushroom growing farms is workers' wages, and they work most efficiently (they pick faster and more with relatively less fatigue) when optimal working conditions are created for them.

It is no secret that the worker who picks mushrooms spends most of the day on the platform of a mushroom picking trolley, and its proper construction is the key to facilitating the daily work.

Below are some of the factors that determine, in large part, whether after a day of hard work your employees are still productive and will easily return to work the next day or whether they feel physically exhausted and their productivity is simply low.

1. The ease of reaching the mushrooms through a smooth, automatic movement up, down, right and left - the essence of the work of the person who picks the mushrooms is to reach the mushrooms which have grown to the right dimensions quickly and easily. The difference between manual, semi-automatic and automatic solutions is crucial: time and difficulty in moving. Automatic solutions (trolleys with a suitable platform) allow to reach the mushrooms more easily while saving energy of the picker.
2. Appropriate adjustment (height, inclination, distance) of the shelves for mushroom containers. In addition to reaching the right mushroom, it needs to be picked and then put in a container. Shelves for packaging / boxes should be properly adapted to the figure and range of motion of the person picking the mushrooms. Facilitating this activity means faster and less tiring picking, and we are talking about an activity that is repeated every day even thousands of times!
3. Seat adjustment. The height of the "seat" and the distance from the box/package shelves should be adjustable in order to be able to adjust it to the distance from the mushroom containers, but also above all to the height of the person who picks the mushrooms. Comfortable body placement means less fatigue and less fatigue means faster and more efficient work.
4. Perfect shape and thickness of profiles. Most mushroom carts have rails that not only protect against falling out, but above all should have a geometry that also facilitates the motion / movement of a person on the platform, facilitating movement on the platform, supporting the employee who repeatedly holds onto them while standing up or sitting down. Rails should be of adequate strength and preferably rounded, ergonomic shape to ensure safety and enable a solid hand grip.
5. Location of the pilot and brake. A modern picking trolley is controlled by an intuitive remote control, which should be placed in such a place that it is easy to access (without straining the body, without unnecessary movements) and allows controlling it with both hands.
6. Trolley components which are subject to maintenance and assembly/disassembly. Part of the daily work of the mushroom picker is also the preparation of the trolley for work by assembly or disassembly of the drive and washing and disinfection of the elements of the trolley. Good mushroom picking trolleys are designed for these activities to be performed quickly, easily (without requiring specialized personnel) and without undue impact on the wear of the trolley components.
7. Easy, possible picking from the bottom shelf of the shelving. Non-customized solutions (choosing the wrong design of the trolley) may result in the necessity of additionally strenuous, physical work on the picking of the mushrooms from the bottom shelf of the shelving or prevent any picking at all, because the floor of the trolley platform is located too high to be able to easily reach this shelf from the platform. It is worth choosing such trolleys that will enable ergonomic picking from all shelves of the shelving, including the last one.

The key to optimizing the efficiency of harvesting in a mushroom growing farm is the choice of such devices that will actually speed up and facilitate the work of employees, because in the vast majority of mushroom growing farms around the world, it is the human resources that constitute one of the largest fixed costs of the mushroom growing farm's operation.

It is a common mistake to choose the cheapest trolleys, not the ones that are best thought out in terms of construction and enable the most ergonomic, and therefore efficient, work for our employees. By choosing a better, and therefore usually more expensive, solution, we can save a lot, because the process of mushroom picking will ultimately turn out to be much cheaper using the potential of the right devices.

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The article’s author is GROWTIME (growtime.eu), a manufacturer of high-end mushroom picking trolleys used by leading mushroom growing farms around the world. If you are interested in mushroom picking trolleys, then check out our leading products:
● Mushroom picking trolley PASCAL - https://growtime.eu/en/produkt/pascal-picking-trolley/
● Mushroom picking trolley NEWTON - https://growtime.eu/en/produkt/newton-picking-lorry/