Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | March 2021

Council Update

REMINDER

The Council office has moved! Below is our new contact information. Reports & payments still go to the lockbox.

Mushroom Council
200 NE Missouri Rd, Ste 200
Lee’s Summit, MO 64086
(816) 251-4512

Next Council Meeting:
Scheduled as a Zoom meeting on June 17-18, 2021

Exemption Applications:
The exemption applications for the 2021 calendar year have been mailed to those who are currently exempt. If you do not receive an application, please email [email protected]

Open Positions on the Council (2022-2024 term):

A call for nominations will be sent on or about February 1, 2021 for three open positions on the Council for the 2022-2024 term.

Region 2 (PA) – two open positions
Region 3 (CA) – one open position

Mushroom growers have ideas, skills, experiences and perspectives that would benefit the industry; be a voice for your industry by becoming part of the Council.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Mushroom Council encourages all eligible producers, including women, minorities and individuals with disabilities to participate and seek nomination.

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

DIGITAL

The “Feed Your Immune System” campaign continues into the month of March.
- Share the campaign landing page and information found on the page: https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/feed-your-immune-system/
- Create and share content on your social media channels, website and/or blogs using the campaign assets:
  - Sample Content
  - Campaign Graphics
    - Grocery Store Checklist
    - Habit Tracker Checklist
    - Immunity 101
    - + More!
  - Campaign Videos
  - Recipes
- Engage retail dietitians with a Feed Your Immune System “Cook-a-long” on March 30.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

March 8-12 is the time to promote National School Breakfast Week. Be on the lookout for a breakfast-themed blog post on the Mushrooms in Schools website. We will also add a number of new recipes to the website, so please encourage your school nutrition community to visit the webpage.

FOODSERVICE

Jersey Mike’s Subs is introducing the Grilled Portabella Mushroom and Swiss Sub at its more than 1,900 locations nationwide. The new sub features fresh grilled Portabella mushrooms, green peppers and onions with melted Swiss cheese. The Mushroom Council is partnering with Jersey Mike’s in the product launch, helping to raise awareness of the new mushroom-centric sandwich on the market.
Couple that with the Kale-Portabella Egg Bites at Starbucks and portabellas are having a moment.

Highlights from February

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Mushrooms’ inclusion in 2021 trends lists was shared by the Mushroom Council in a press release that was picked up by the trades, including: The Packer, Perishable News and Produce Blue Book.
In addition to the syndicated article, Healthy, Wholesome Dishes to Support Immune Systems, an accompanying recipe video is now available for distribution. Both the article and video will be accessible for media pick-up throughout the duration of the Feed Your Immune System campaign. Learn more and view the article: The Missoulian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Arizona Daily Star and Lincoln Star Journal.
Industry-funded research was published in Food Science & Nutrition and promoted in a press release distributed at the beginning of the month. Media coverage of the research has included Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Slash Gear, Nutrition Insight, SciTech Daily, National Herald, Technology Networks, HortiDaily and Nutra Ingredients.
A second industry-funded research release was distributed on February 24 with coverage pending.

DIGITAL

The Council celebrated National Stuffed Mushroom Day on February 4 on social media. Social media followers love stuffed mushrooms as much as we do! Check out some fantastic user comments on the Facebook post and share the Council’s recipe for Olive and Feta Stuffed Mushrooms.
As part of the Feed Your Immune System, the Council is working with influencers to share healthy recipes and nutritional benefits on social media. View a few influencer and dietitian partner Instagram posts (all recipes are available on MushroomCouncil.com):
- Chicken and Mushroom Pasta from @krolls_korner
- Braised Mushrooms, Greens and Beans from @fareisle
- Spicy Maple Portabella Jerky from @chelseyamernutrition
- Jumbo Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms from @chelseyamernutrition

SCHOOL NUTRITION

In February, Mushrooms in Schools continued to participate in the Feed Your Immune System campaign and shared a newsletter with all of our immunity resources. Nearly 12% of Mushrooms in Schools website visitors viewed the Feed Your Immune System page. We also published a blog post about knife skills and incorporated a video from our Layers of Flavors culinary training. On February 25^th we are debuting our FaceBook Live with Chef Robert Rusan. Please be sure to share the post with your school nutrition community!

Metrics

Mushroom Channel

Blenditarian

Mushroom Council Impressions YOY

Blenditarian Impressions YOY

Hashtags

Monthly Topline Report

Tracker Highlights – Period ending 12/27/2020

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

In the 4 weeks – Cremini mushrooms drive category growth with $6M in incremental dollar sales
In the 52 weeks – All varieties see long-term category dollar and volume growth

Total Mushrooms – 4 Weeks

Mushroom category dollar sales continued to show double-digit growth at +12.6% for the period, outpacing Total Produce by +4.8 points
Dollar growth was driven by increases in volume (+9.1%) and average price/lb. (+3.2%)
All regions experienced dollar sales growth, led by California (+20.1%
- Northeast saw the highest incremental sales growth at +$3.5M
- All markets except Louisville, New Orleans, and St. Louis saw dollar gains. Boston led the markets in growth rate at +23.7%
Conventional and Organic mushroom sales continued to grow this period. Dollar sales of Conventional mushrooms added +$11.8M (+13.0%), while Organic sales rose +$1.3M (+9.6%)

*IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing

Click Here for the Full Topline Report