Monthly Shipping Report | January 2013

COUNCIL UPDATE

• A call for nominations for 3-year terms beginning January 1, 2014 will be mailed no later than February 1, 2013. The regions with a position opening up are Region 1 (one position), Region 2 (one position) and Region 3 (one position). Please consider being a part of the Council.
  • USDA and the Mushroom Council encourage all eligible producers, including women, minorities and individuals with disabilities to participate in the nominations and seek nomination to serve on the Council.
• The next Council meeting is being held on Saturday, June 22, 2013 in conjunction with the NAMC in Vancouver.  If you would like to attend this meeting please contact Cheryl so we can make sure you are accommodated.
• Exemption Applications for 2013 were mailed to those who currently hold and exemption number. If you did not get an application you can download one here or contact Cheryl at the Council office. Please note that 2012 exemption numbers expire on December 31 and a new one is needed for 2013.

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

To see current charts through October 2012 click here.

 

MARKETING SUMMARY

Mushroom Council Marketing Summary – December 2012

Industry Tools

• The Council is pleased to present the full MyPlate recipe collection with the Produce for Better Health Foundation. Print out all six recipes and fact sheets for your retail and foodservice contacts as an example of how different mushroom  applications can help them (and subsequently their customers) eat healthfully by bringing more vegetables to the plate. Recipes and fact sheets are available on the MyPlate section of MushroomInfo.com and the Nutrition section of mushroomcouncil.org.
• The Council would like to make it easy for you to find and share all stories related to mushrooms. If you are currently taking part in social sharing, whether it be through Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest, the new “Get Social” page on MushroomCouncil.org will help you find mushroom content to share with your social networks. Each week we will feature a new post highlighting current mushroom mentions in the media and some of the Mushroom Channel’s most popular social posts. We encourage you to navigate to any of the stories listed and share them with your social networks and/or customers.

• Working with registered dietitian Dave Grotto on the eve of his new book, the Council distributed a press release (12/18) featuring mushrooms as one of Grotto’s best foods for 2013. The release garnered over three million impressions to date, including placements in the Chicago Daily Herald, Fresno Bee, Crave Local and Grub Street.

• The Council is again teaming up with Taste of Home Cooking Schools (TOH) in 2013 to continue to drive trial of fresh mushroom usage and build mushroom advocacy among consumers. The partnership will allow consumers to experience mushroom Swapability firsthand at the Cooking School events, which run from March through June. More information will be shared in the coming months about TOH activities and opportunities to attend.

2012 Social Media Overview:  The Mushroom Council’s Facebook community increased by 2,371% since Jan. 1, 2012, and Twitter followers increased by 40%. Additionally, the Council launched a Pinterest account in April, which has nearly 2,000 followers to date and drives notable traffic to MushroomInfo.com.

• Search Engine Marketing has increased traffic to MushroomInfo.com by 130 percent and daily page views by 204 percent since launch in May 2011. Additionally, Search Engine Marketing drove more than 16,000 visits to MushroomInfo.com during December. Top performing keywords include “mushroom recipes”, “stuffed” and “crab”.

• The Mushroom Channel blog published seven new posts in December, including new recipes by blogger contributors; the most visited were Blogger Ambassador Spotlight: Meal Planning with Erin Chase,  Fried Eggs, Mushroom and Kale Skillet and Tri-Mushroom Flatbread, which received a combined 802 page views. Click here to read all posts.

• Facebook impressions increased by nine percent since November, generating more than five million impressions in December through fan engagement.

• Pinterest followers increased by 11 percent from November. Pinterest drove the most visits to MushroomInfo.com of any of the Mushroom Council’s social properties, with nearly 1,700 visits in December.

On the Horizon

• The Council is pursuing a commitment with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to be announced at their summit on childhood obesity (March 6-8).
• From January 31 thru February 2^nd, the Council is sponsoring a Food and Culinary Professionals culinary workshop for registered dietitians hosted at the Culinary Institute of America. A two hour mushroom focused cooking session will showcase mushroom versatility and give this audience the opportunity to experience Swapability.
• The Council is coordinating the Mushrooms and Health Summit for September 2013.
• Winners of the Council’s nutrition grants are currently activating their programs, which will be promoted during March’s National Nutrition Month.

 

FOODSERVICE SUMMARY

Marketing Summary

In December, the Council hosted a menu development session for Eat ‘n Park restaurants. At the culinary session, the Council explored new items for their menu that featured fresh mushrooms and swapability concepts.  The Council also worked with the chain’s marketing department to promote two new mushroom dishes—Spinach Mushroom Penne and Rosemary Chicken with Mushrooms. The Council will also be hosting a tour with a Team from ENP which includes Parkhurst Dining, a regional foodservice management company.

After working with Panera for the last 18 months, the chain has once again added mushrooms to its menu with its Spinach Power salad featuring baby spinach, roasted mushrooms and onion blend, egg, bacon, frizzled onions and Vidalia onion vinaigrette. The Council is working with the chain to explore more ways to use mushrooms on the menu so that they can have staying power.

Given the success of the Portabella Chicken promotion at Red Lobster, one of its sister chains just launched their own Napa Chicken promotion.  Their version features Portabellas, artichoke hearts, roasted tomatoes and a lemon butter sauce and are all featured in the Under 500 Calorie Menu Section.

On The Horizon

At an upcoming conference at the Culinary Institute of America, the Council will showcase swapablility recipes and host an ideation among top chains to help identify potential menu names for swapable mushroom-meat items.  The Council will also have one-on-ones with some of the top chains and colleges to discuss mushrooms on the menu.

Industry Tools

• This month the Council unofficially launched its new foodservice website, www.mushroomsonthemenu.com.  The site which will be updated frequently is an important tool to find information and tools such as sell sheets, case histories and recipes pertaining to foodservice to use with distributors, chains and other customers.  The Council will also be blogging from the website, talking about important trends in foodservice, which continues its growth as traffic continues upward.
• New research from Datassentials, one of the preeminent foodservice research companies, shows that mushrooms are now on approximately 80% of all menus.  Criminis have been the fastest growing variety (up 36% in the last 5 years) with Portabellas up 2%. (Note that the survey ran through mid-2012, before Wendy’s, Red Lobster and Applebee’s promoted new items with Portabellas.
• On February 27, the Council will host a webinar for the industry on swapability.  We plan to discuss how the concept has progressed, who is menuing the concept successes, new tools and how to leverage the concept with your accounts.

 

SCHOOL NUTRITION SUMMARY

• A swapability fact sheet was developed to distribute to school foodservice directors and further processors to demonstrate the benefit mushrooms add to school meals. Click here to view the fact sheets.
• Council representatives worked with a meat processor to develop a school foodservice mushroom and beef blended burger. The mushroom beef patty is set for school trials.
• Council representatives prepared to exhibit mushroom swapability at an Innovation Station at the School Nutrition Association’s Child Nutrition Industry Conference in January.
• Council School Nutrition resources can be found here.

 

RETAIL SUMMARY

The Topline report week ending 12/02/12 was sent to the industry on 01/09/2013; click here to access the report online.

Highlights from the report:

• Total Mushrooms – For the 52-week time period ending 12/2/12:
  • The Northeast represented the largest share of total mushroom retail dollars, 24% of the national total.
  • The Southeast region experienced the largest retail dollar growth over the prior year at +4.0%.
  • National mushroom retail dollars trend of +1.7% was slightly below the Total Produce dollars trend (+2.2%).
  • National mushroom retail pounds grew +1.5% with the strongest growth in the Pacific Northwest region, which exhibited a gain of +3.7%.
  • The Columbus market showed the strongest growth in retail dollars at +13.3%, outpacing its respective region and Total U.S. averages.
  • The Little Rock market showed the strongest growth in retail pounds at +9.5%, outpacing its respective region and Total U.S. averages.

• Segment/Variety – For the 52-week time period ending 12/2/12:
  • Nationally, Whites experienced an increase in retail dollars (+0.9%) and retail pounds (+0.7%) from the prior year, underperforming Brown which showed an increase in retail dollars (+2.7%) and retail pounds (+2.7%).
  • Nationally, Brown trends were driven by the Portabella retail dollars (+3.3%) and retail pounds (+3.6%) gain, while Cremini retail dollars grew (+2.5%) and retail pounds grew (+2.3%).

• Total Mushrooms – For the 4-week time period ending 12/2/12:
  • National mushroom retail dollars grew +1.8%, underperforming Total Produce’s trend (+7.4%) by -5.6 points.
  • National mushroom retail pounds grew +1.6% with the largest gain occurring in the California region (+6.1%).
  • The Albany market showed the strongest growth in retail dollars at +17.8% while Hartford/Springfield showed the strongest growth in retail pounds at +12.6%.

• Segment/Variety – For the 4-week time period ending 12/2/12:
  • Nationally, White retail dollars grew +1.2% which was +1.4 points higher than the Brown retail dollar trend of -0.2%.
  • Within the White segment, the region with the best retail dollar trend was the California region (+15.3%).
  •  Within the Brown segment, the region with the best retail dollar trend was the Northeast region (+14.5%).

 

Marketing Summary

• A marketing summary was sent to The Packer covering Swapability on 12/10/2012.
• Mushrooms: One of 13 best foods to eat in 2013: Perishable News 12/20/13

 

Industry Tools

A Retail Newsletter highlighting Crimini category growth, holiday promotion suggestions, pink promotion recap, swapability refresh was sent out to the industry on 1/02/2013! You can find a copy of the Mushroom Marketplace newsletter here.