Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | January 2017

Council Update

The next Council meeting will take place on January 25-26, 2017 in San Diego, CA. If you would like to attend, please let us know so we can make sure you are accommodated.
Exemption Applications for 2017 have been mailed to those who are currently exempt. If you need an application, click here.
A call for nominations will be sent on February 1, 2017 for three position on the Council for the 2018-2020 term. Positions are in Regions 1, 2 & 4.
The North American Mushroom Conference is June 21-23, 2017 in Quebec, Canada. Registration is open!
Save the Date: Regional meetings will be held on March 14, 2017 in Kennett Square, PA and on March 15, 2017 in Gilroy, CA as well as a Webinar.

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

Stay tuned for a 2017 Blend Marketing Toolkit for industry use available soon, featuring Blend marketing materials such as suggested year-long social media themes, case studies and sample retail and foodservice presentations.
The dietitian at Harmons Grocery is piloting Blend meatball recipes in the deli at two of their stores in January with the goal of rolling out the item in all 17 Utah stores.
The Council has a meeting with Northgate Gonzalez Markets January 1^th to present The Blend to them and discuss promotional opportunities. Northgate has 41 stores in California. The retailer carries an assortment of leading Hispanic and traditional brands. http://www.northgatemarkets.com/our-stores/our-departments/
Working to build upon our partnership with the James Beard Foundation and Foodservice Director to develop College & University Blended Burger Project which will serve as a catalyst for many universities to serve more Blend Burgers and others to begin serving The Blend.
Menu Development with two regional chains to help them operationally adopt The Blend while developing the right flavor profiles for their guests.
Meeting with Healthy Menus Collaborative to determine appropriate feedback and to showcase how easy it is to menu The Blend.
Four new videos have been developed to coach school nutrition managers on preparing The Blend in their kitchens will be sent to 1,900+ subscribers in January.

Highlights from December

National media are actively featuring The Blend as a top food trend for 2017! Check out these news links and share them on your social channels to continue the buzz: Food Trends to Watch in 2017 on Web MD, 5 Nutrition Trends You Should Follow in 2017 on U.S. News & World Report and The 5 Biggest Healthy Eating Trends for 2017 on Huffington Post.
Two new recipe videos debuted this month: Blended Sausage & Mushroom Stuffing and Mushroom Gravy. Share them on social media to inspire your customers’ holiday cooking plans!
Meijer promoted their Mushroom Restaurant Blend alongside Certified Angus Beef at a March of Dimes event last month, which brought in 500 attendees. They served 420 strip roast with sautéed mushroom sliders, which won the “Best Tasting Dish” award for the evening!
Meijer also featured the recipe for our Mediterranean Blended Burger Slider (served at our FNCE event) on their website as part of their weekly dinner menu.
North State Grocers started running a mushroom and meat promotion on December 7th. It runs through December 20th. Point of Sale signage is displayed in both the produce and meat departments featuring the promotion. Package mushrooms will be displayed on meat counter. A QR code will be placed on signage linking back to the Mushroom Council’s Blend recipes web page. An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 units of 8 oz. sliced mushrooms are estimated to be sold. http://shopsavmor.com/
- First week results: This is the first time they are promoting mushrooms between the holiday when there is usually a lull in sales. The first five days of the promotion saw White sliced mushrooms up 28% in units sold and the Crimini sliced up 6% in units sold.
Culinary Immersion with one of the largest foodservice management firms to create new mushroom and Blend recipes and move them closer to adopting The Blend throughout the system which would result in millions of servings of The Blend.
Participated in a panel discussion, at the New York Produce Marketing Show/Foodservice Ideation Conference, sitting next to top chains such as, Wendy’s, PF Chang, Hard Rock and Disney, as well as Sysco. The panel discussion allow us to promote The Blend to approximately 200 chains, distributors and foodservice operators.
Collaborated with a major healthcare organization to roll out The Blend to 100 hospitals which would amount to approximately 1 million servings of The Blend.
The School Nutrition Foundation and Mushroom Council hosted a webinar featuring mushrooms and The Blend titled “Six Flavorful Strategies for Increasing Vegetable Consumption”. Over 500 school nutrition managers attended the webinar to learn how they can incorporate more mushrooms and vegetables into their student’s meals.
The Mushroom Council has launched the Blend the Rules campaign for K-12 cafeterias to participate in throughout the country. The campaign’s goal is to capture success stories and reward school districts that are creatively serving mushrooms and The Blend to their students. The success stories will be promoted on social and traditional media to further increase Blend activation in the school nutrition segment.
- Encourage your local districts to participate and your produce distributor customers to share the contest with their school customers to increase campaign participation. Find the complete campaign toolkit here: www.mushroomcouncil.org/school-nutrition

Events

The Council is planning for Oldways Supermarket Dietitian Symposium held March 19-21 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Topline Report

Tracker Highlights from 10/30/2016

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy:

In the 4‐weeks – Conventional mushrooms contribute 64% of incremental dollars
In the 52‐weeks – Nearly all markets continue to grow White mushroom sales

Click here for the full report.