May 2009 Industry News

On April 21, mushrooms made their second debut on the CBS “Super Screen” in New York’s Times Square. The new ad focuses on mushrooms as a superfood and delivers five mushroom nutrition key messages, including low in calories/fat-free, satiety, vitamin D, antioxidants and nature’s hidden treasure. The ad runs twice an hour for 18 hours a day and is expected to receive approximately 1.5 million daily impressions. Click here to see an example of the ad in Times Square.

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

Mushroom Council First Handler Reports (millions of pounds; totals may not match due to rounding).
Current Charts

	Feb-09	Feb-08	% change	YTD 09	YTD 08	% change
Total Shipments	56.59	61.62	-8.17	117.29	125.00	-6.17
Domestic Shipments	50.30	53.93	-6.74	103.03	109.68	-6.07
PA	30.04	31.24	-3.85	61.73	64.17	-3.79
CA	9.13	9.87	-7.54	18.58	19.90	-6.63
Rest of US	11.13	12.82	-13.17	22.71	25.61	-11.33
Imports	6.29	7.69	-18.19	14.26	15.32	-6.91

* Please note that in Feb 2008 there were 29 days in February as compared to only 28 days in 2009

COUNCIL UPDATE

Ballots are being mailed out on June 1^st and are due by June 30^th.

The upcoming Council meeting is being held on May 28-29 in Chicago.

Click here to read the Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative Bulletin #6 – May, 2009.

New Postings to the Council website:

MARKETING SUMMARY

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS/PLACEMENTS TO DATE:
April impressions overview:

Program	April 2009 Impressions	% of April 2008 Impressions	Total Year Impressions to Date*	% of Annual Goal
Consumer/Nutrition	101,574,832	81%	374,865,944	75%
Foodservice	382,726	85%	1,678,740	52%
Retail	170,037	258%	585,913	32%

     *Note: total year impressions includes impression numbers from early May 2009
   **Note: includes impressions from the mushroom ads running in Times Square from April 1-30.
     Numbers and percents provided above are based off of this number. Estimated audience
     reach is 1.5 million per day.

     In April, the Mushroom Council had an average of 57 percent share of voice. While conducting
     proactive media outreach, we generally expect Mushroom Council coverage to represent
     between 33-75 percent of mushroom placements, according to average consumer product and
     commodity industry standards. Note that there are always external factors or industry forces
     that could change that metric.

Mushroom Share of Voice

Week Ending	Mushroom Council Generated Placements	% of Total Mushroom Coverage	Type of Outreach
April 5	13	81 percent	Proactive
April 12	15	60 percent	Proactive
April 19	11	46 percent	Proactive
April 30	11	50 percent	Proactive
Total	50	57 percent	Proactive

Mushrooms in the News:

In April, Produce for Better Health published the “Top 10 Ways to Enjoy Mushrooms” on their consumer Web site. The feature included Mushroom Council recipes & tips on preparing and storing mushrooms, as well as nutritional information. To view the full article, click here.

During the first full month of reporting, Mushroom Council’s PP2 recipes Grilled Philly Cheese Mushroom Sandwich and Mushroom Chips and Dip garnered more than six million impressions combined. The recipes have been featured in online and print publications, including the San Diego Union—Tribune, Reno Gazette-Journal and Cooking.com.

The Council hosted a recipe contest for Cinco de Mayo through Twitter for a chance to have the winning recipe featured on the Mushroom Channel as the “Recipe of the Week” on May 5. The contest combined the Mushroom Channel, Twitter and media outreach. The effort resulted in “tweets” by the food editors at the Indianapolis Star and the Salt Lake Tribune as well as a Leader’s Post blog posting.

To date, the Council’s “Mushrooms Every Day, Every Way Recipe Contest” has been featured in 45 publications, such as Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Oklahoman and Herald & Review, garnering more than 35 million impressions.

The San Diego Union—Tribune highlighted mushrooms in their “Food Factor” column, noting that swapping meat for mushrooms can save 400 calories. In April, Mushroom Council-funded research on the weight management of swapping mushrooms for meat was highlighted in seven placements, accounting for more than 36 million impressions.

In the April issue of Taste of Home Healthy Cooking, mushrooms were featured as a food that, despite the lack in color had significant health benefits. This placement garnered nearly 2.5 million impressions. To view the full article, click here.

Mushrooms’ cancer and immunity research has been highlighted in eight placements, generating nearly 41 million impressions in publications, such as Health Castle, Examiner, Taste of Home Healthy Cooking and Reader’s Digest.

Mushroom Council placements represented an average of 57 percent of total mushroom news, which is withinthe norm of 33 to 75 percent during a period of proactive outreach. To view all March placements, click here.

On the Retail Front:

The latest findings from the Encore Associates January 2009 Retail Best Practices study—which demonstrated how mushrooms could contribute to an increase in sales at an individual store of at least 6.1 percent—were shared with the industry and media. Media highlights include upcoming placements in Produce News and Produce Merchandising. To view the press release click here.

In the April “Green” issue of Progressive Grocer, mushrooms were highlighted as “Making Mighty Inroads” despite the current economy. The article included year-end statistics from 2008, and referenced mushroom key messages, citing them as a value generator and key contributor to overall store sales. To view the entire article, click here. This placement resulted in 125,358 impressions.

Mushrooms were featured in the April issue of Produce Business, which highlighted their “all-important addition to the foodservice industry.” Seventy-seven percent of the Top 200 restaurant chains have mushrooms on their menus, highlighting their versatility for foodservice segments from Italian to Mexican and a variety of courses from appetizers to entrées. This placement resulted in 44,679 impressions. To view the full article, click here.

The Council continues to develop retail materials for the industry. Recently, the Council distributed Sell Sheets for PP2 “Adding Value with Mushrooms” and PP3 “Retail Best Practices/Going Pink.” To access the sell sheets, click here. The Q2 newsletter is underway, focusing on “Summer Success with Mushrooms.”

For a more comprehensive retail report click here

On the Foodservice Front:

In the month of April, media outreach efforts landed an article featuring Chef Ullio Riccardo’s “Funghi Fritti,” the same dish which will be served at the Mushroom Council’s sponsored snack session at the Marketing Executives Group (MEG) on May 15in Chicago. The Mushroom Council has already reached nearly 50 percent of the annual impressions goal. As a result of April’s placements, mushrooms continued to be a part of cost control and small plate stories.

The Mushroom Council is gearing up for an exciting season of events. Currently, the Council is preparing for the upcoming Distributor Event in Dallas, June 2. In addition, the Council made preparations, such as finalizing details for the Mushroom Council snack session sponsorship at the MEG conference, where three mushroom dishes will be served. Finally, to target culinary educators, the Council is preparing further sponsorship activities for the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) and the National Association of College and University Foodservice (NACUFS).

For an update on the status of the Council’s foodservice promotional pursuits click here; to see new mushroom menu items for April, click here.