Monterey Mushrooms history

1975 Monterey Mushrooms opens its first farm in Watsonville California, the start of what will become one of the largest mushroom companies.

1979 Amycel began producing spawn in San Juan Batista California, as the result of a licensing agreement between Monterey Mushrooms and Somycel of France.

1980's Amycel established its research facility at the primary Monterey Mushroom farm in Watsonville California.

The DA’s lawsuit also includes a history of Monterey Mushrooms’ violations at the Morgan Hill site going back to 1985.

1987 Monterey acquired the Spawn Mate corporation, which created the Amycel Spawn Mate team and pushed the combination to the forefront of both spawn and supplement markets.

Without hesitation and with the help of both family and stakeholders, Shah purchased Monterey Mushrooms in 1988.

1994 Amycel opened the Vendome plant with a capacity of approximately 6 million litres per year.

The company asked for an extension on its deadline to install the pond due to the high cost of the project, but ultimately did not complete the evaporation pond until 2001, the DA’s lawsuit reads.

2014 Increase of the production capacity in Vendome to 20 million litres per year.

On one incident in January 2016, Fish and Game wardens observed stormwater running off piles of used hay bales, “flowing through an intentionally hand-dug ditch and directly into a stream, Fisher Creek,” reads the DA’s complaint.