Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | August 2018

SAVE THE DATE: An Industry Roundtable Meeting will be held at the Italian American Club in PA on Thursday, September 6 from 4:30pm – 6:30pm. All industry members from all regions are welcome to attend. More details to follow.
- Ballots:
  - Region 2 (PA) ballots, replacement ballots were mailed on July 25 and must be postmarked by August 6 to be considered valid.
  - Region 3 (CA) ballots have been tallied and background forms have been sent to the nominees to complete in preparation for submission to the Secretary of Agriculture for appointment.
COUNCIL MEETING: The next Council meeting will be held on September 6 – 7 in Kennett Square, PA. If you would like to attend, please let us know so we can make sure you are accommodated.

To see current charts, click here.

DIGITAL

Chef Lance Avery will compete in the first ever burger battle at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August. Additionally, he will serve blended burgers at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame on August 9 from 7 to 10 p.m. Learn more here.
August marks the eigth Blenditarian Challenge™, and the theme is Back to School Weeknight Dinners. Make one of the featured recipes (or your own favorite recipe) and post a picture to Twitter or Instagram with #BlenditarianChallenge. Learn more here.
Promote this year’s Veal + Mushroom Blended Burger and Summer Sweepstakes:
- Head over to the Blenditarian Facebook and Share this post: https://www.facebook.com/Blenditarian/videos/1560123414097010/
- Create your own post on social using the following copy: You can win $500 in groceries when you enter the Veal Made Easy Summer Grilling Sweepstakes. The campaign runs now through Labor Day, so enter today! While you’re at it, try this blended mushroom veal slider with balsamic onions. http://bit.ly/2JA4tcc

FOODSERVICE

The 4th annual James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project™ has come to an end with nearly 400 entries. The winners top 20 vote-getters will be judged by a panel of experts from the food industry including Andrew Zimmern (James Beard Award-winning TV personality), Susan Westmoreland (Culinary Director, Good Housekeeping), and Antoinette Bruno (CEO, StarChefs.com), will determine the top five winners based on (1) most creative use of mushrooms, (2) best flavor profile and (3) presentation. Once announced please share that this opportunity to publicize the winners on your websites and share across your social channels. Mark your calendars for October 18 when the winners will cook their blended burgers at a special event at the Beard House in NYC.
Firebirds Woodfired Grill introduced their new “Bella Burger” as a summer feature. Head out to a Firebird’s near you and give it a try! The more they sell, the more likely they will leave it on the menu. Also be sure to share with you consumer followers:
- Head over to Facebook and Share this post
- Head to Twitter and Retweet this tweet
- Head to Instagram and “Like” and comment on this Instagram post
Fleming’s Prime Steak House has introduced a new Bar Bites menu with a Mushroom-Farro Blend Burger, made with fresh mushrooms. It’s available for lunch only, so be sure to stop by your nearest Fleming’s.

DIGITAL

The July Blenditarian Challenge™ resulted in 30 original “Summer Fiesta” blend entries, including a Fiesta Blended Burger, Blended Fiesta Rice and or course, Blended Beef Tacos! A few of our favorite reasons for blending include:
- I love being a blenditarian because I can get my protein and fiber in at the same time! – Andrew L.
- Being a blenditarian allows me to enjoy the best of both worlds! – Colleen H.
Blue Apron sent blended burger meal kits to hundreds of thousands of consumers during the week of July 16. Here’s what one consumer had to say on social media:
- “Tonight we tried out Blue Apron, and our first meal kit was Beef and Mushroom Burgers with Roasted Onion and Marinated Cabbage. I’m normally not a huge mushroom fan, but they were grated and mixed with the meat. Along with a few other ingredients mixed in this ended up being one of the most flavorful burgers I’ve had. The cabbage was a perfect simple side. #blueapronblendedburger”

FOODSERVICE

NACUFS National conference was held July 11-14, in Rhode Island. There were several Blended Burger suppliers exhibiting, as well as the Council. The Council was featured on a panel focused on innovative products and how industry research drives and influences trends in the food industry. Also on the panel was Hormel and Beyond Meat. More information about upcoming regional conferences can be found here, or reach out to Steve Solomon if you would be interested in attending as a guest.

SCHOOL FOODSERVICE

Mushrooms in Schools exhibited at two large industry trade shows over the past few weeks. In late June, the team met with school district leaders at the annual United Fresh School Foodservice Forum and then followed that by meeting with thousands of school foodservice professionals at the School Nutrition Association Annual National Conference.

Click images to enlarge

Mushroom Council

Blenditarian

FOODSERVICE

The Mushroom Council will be attending several events at the Culinary Institute of America, one of which is specifically for Retail Directors of prepared foods and deli. We will be discussing The Blend and its application in a retail setting.

Tracker Highlights from Period Ending 05-20-18*

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

In the 4-weeks – Mushroom category dollar growth rate outpaced total produce by +4.1 points
In the 52-weeks – Dollar growth shown in all regions across the U.S.

* IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing