Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | June 2021

Council Update

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

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

Nominations are in and have been verified. Ballots will be mailed on or about June 1. Please be sure to complete your ballots and return to the Council by June 30. Ballots can be mailed to the office or emailed to [email protected].

• Region 2 (PA) – Four nominees for two open positions – vote for two nominees
• Region 3 (CA) – Two nominees for one open position – vote for one nominee

If you do not receive a ballot or need another copy, please contact Cheryl @ the Council office.

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

• The Mushroom Council® and Food Network “Blended Burger Contest” ends on June 25. You can support the campaign byEncouraging customers (consumers and distributors) to enter original blended burger recipes at FoodNetwork.com/blendedburgercontest by June 25.
• Pick up the June Issue of Food Network Magazine which includes a centerfold spread of a blended burger + a recipe booklet featuring mushroom/blended recipes.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• Although school’s out for summer vacation in many places, school nutrition professionals are busy with the Summer Meals program and planning for the next school year. Throughout the summer, we will promote menu-planning resources, including recipes utilizing fresh mushrooms. Please encourage your school nutrition community to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be notified of new recipes and resources! You can find First Taste TV on Facebook and Youtube. We will sharing the airing date as soon as it is confirmed. We had a  great time working with our two young fans, Bella and Olive! You can catch last years episode on our Youtube channel.

Highlights from May

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

• With burger season here, Woman’s World, Women’s Health and LiveNaturally Magazine shared recipes for blended burgers. View the recipes:Deluxe Burgers – Woman’s World
• Mushroom and Beef Blended Burger With Shaved Asparagus Salad – Women’s Health
• Mushroom-Blended Burger with Roasted Peppers – LiveNaturally
• In an article on U.S. News & World Report, Janet Helm, MS, RDN wrote about the increasing popularity of the flexitarian diet, noting that she began following the trend when “it seemed to get started around 2015 when the Mushroom Council teamed up with the James Beard Foundation for the Blended Burger Project.” Since then, “the concept of being a Blenditarian took off, and the blended burger began showing up on blogs, magazine food pages, restaurant menus and even in the frozen food aisle,” Helm said. Read the article on U.S. News & World Report.
• Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, CLEC worked with The Council on two nutrition-focused articles for VeryWell Health.Study: Benefits of Eating More Mushrooms
• 8 Foods to Support Your Bone Health

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• Friday, May 7, 2021 was the 8th Annual School Lunch Hero Day. Mushrooms in Schools elevated Grove City Area School District’s program (located in Pennsylvania) through a blog post and Facebook Live. Our Facebook followers have grown approximately 10% since January 2021 – please be sure to share our Facebook page with your networks! Additionally, our friends at Franklin Community Schools have their Fresh Roasted Mushrooms recipe highlighted on the National CACFP Association recipe page this month.

Metrics

Mushroom Channel

Blenditarian

Mushroom Council Impressions YOY

Hashtags

Monthly Topline Report

Tracker Highlights – Period ending 3/21/2021

• Download the Highlights (4 & 52 Weeks) Report
• Download the Graphic Highlights Report

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

• In the 4 weeks – Total Produce dollar sales declined 7%, while Fresh mushrooms declined 3%
• In the 52 weeks – Every segment continued to contribute double-digit growth

Total Mushrooms – 4 Weeks

• Mushroom category dollar sales saw a decline of -3.3% for the period, while Total Produce declined -6.7%
• This decline was driven by a decrease in volume (-4.2%), while average price/lb. increased +1.0%
• All regions experienced dollar sales decline, except for West (+1.4%)
  • Most markets saw a downward sales trend; however, 16 markets saw increases. Denver led the markets in growth rate at +7.5%
• Conventional and Organic dollar sales dropped -2.4% and -9.0%, respectively

*IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing