DuŸy duŸy Tak Tak Büyük büyük Evet evet Just a few examples of words that are commonplace on nearly every Dutch mushroom farm these days We live in a multi-cultural society - and the mushroom growing sector doesnt exist in isolation In fact they are actually quite simple words but if you dont know what they mean you could be facing a problem The demand for quality mushrooms is rising - and supervision of pickers plays an important role Should we be harvesting small or large mushrooms and do my pickers really understand my instructions? If somebody hasnt understood everything they dont often admit it - and too quickly say “yes yes” in reply Its worthwhile picking up some basic knowledge of other languages that pickers may have as their mother tongue In the mushroom sector this is mainly Polish or Turkish If you are unable to learn the language yourself its really important that the supervisor has a good detailed command of both Dutch and the language of the pickers Farms lose quality and money daily through communication misunderstandings!

AdVisie ‘the mushroom cultivation advisors’ Henk van Gerwen gerwen@champignonadviesnl