Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | January 2022

Council Update

Next Council Meeting:

February 10-11, 2022 – Dallas, TX

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

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the appointment of three members to serve on the Mushroom Council. The appointees will serve three-year terms from Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2024.
Members appointed are:

Michael J. Basciani, Sr., Avondale, Pennsylvania – Representing Region 2

Meghan Klotzbach, West Grove, Pennsylvania – Representing Region 2

Jack Guan, Commerce, California – Representing Region 3

The nine-member council is comprised of eight domestic growers and one importer. The members represent four regions: three domestic growers are from states other than California and Pennsylvania (Region 1), four domestic growers are from Pennsylvania (Region 2), one domestic grower is from California (Region 3) and the importer represents Region 4. Council members are nominated by their peers and appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture.

See the release here: USDA Announces Appointments to the Mushroom Council | Agricultural Marketing Service

2022 Council Members:

Region 1: All states except CA & PA

Curtis Jurgensmeyer – J-M Farms – OK – 2nd Term
Fletcher Street – Ostrom Mushroom Farms, WA – 1st Term
Ed Wuensch – Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms – TX – 1st Term

Region 2: PA

Michael Basciani, Sr. – M.D. Basciani Mushrooms – PA – 1st Term
Joe Caldwell – Giorgi Mushroom Company – PA – 2nd Term
Meghan Klotzbach – C.P. Yeatman & Sons – PA – 1st Term
Mark Moran – Kaolin Mushrooms – PA – 1st Term

Region 3: CA

Jack Guan – California Terra Garden – CA – 1st Term

Region 4: Imports

Jane Rhyno – Highline Mushrooms – ON – 2nd Term

Exemption Applications:
The exemption applications for the 2022 calendar year will be mailed to those who are currently exempt. If you do not receive an application and would like to apply for an exemption, please email [email protected].

Open Position on the Council (2023-2025 term):

A call for nominations will be sent on or about February 1, 2022, for three open positions on the Council for the 2023-2025 term.

Region 1 (All states except CA & PA) – two open positions
Region 2 (PA) – 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 the nomination.

Shipment Summary

A catch-up in data was performed in January, so we have two First Handler Reports to share: September and October.

To see October charts, click here.

To see September charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

In the first quarter of 2022, the mushroom industry will increase promotions around the “Feed Your Immune System” campaign. The campaign aims to spread awareness and education about the nutritional benefits of mushrooms, and how, like other fruits and vegetables, they can play a positive role in supporting a healthy immune system.

While the underlying messages remain the same, we have new and updated assets this year, as well as a number of new partners, including Registered Dietitian Cara Harbstreet, creating recipes, sharing FYIS messaging, guest blogging and taking over the Mushroom Council social channels.

Help amplify the campaign by creating and sharing content on your social media channels, website and/or blogs using the campaign assets:

Share the campaign landing page and information found on the page: https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/feed-your-immune-system/

Bookmark the FYIS Materials folder which contains all of the campaign assets, including:
- Sales Deck

SCHOOL NUTRITION

Mushrooms in Schools is looking forward to the new year with our healthy you newsletter, social posts, recipes, and our blog highlighting “Feed Your Immune System”. During the middle of January 2022, we will lead an educational session at a national conference for school nutrition professionals (see events below) to incorporate Mushrooms in Schools. You can support Mushrooms in Schools by following our Twitter and Facebook accounts and elevating our social posts.

Highlights from November

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

Mushroom Council shared the “best of 2021” recipes and blogs, recapping the most popular/visited recipes and topics on MushroomCouncil.com.
There was also additional content focusing on mushrooms in holiday meals.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

Mushrooms in Schools celebrated the hard work from school nutrition professionals with our 12 Days of Mushrooms (December 1 – 12). From this promotion, we add 67 Facebook and 117 Twitter followers. Everyone that participated had a great time. You can see the list of our winners here. Because many are looking forward to being home for the holidays, our blog highlights family-friendly recipes for parties and student-aged appropriate recipe instructions. Mushrooms in Schools social media platforms will also elevate the recipes throughout December. Mushrooms in Schools also elevated school districts, such as Gretna Public Schools, for great menu ideas like Savory Roasted Mushrooms recipe. We encourage you to share across social media networks as well.

Upcoming Events

SCHOOL NUTRITION

In January 2022, Mushrooms in Schools will be attending the School Nutrition Industry Conference (January 15-18). On January 16^th from 1:30-2:30 pm, Mushrooms In Schools will be providing the following Innovative Educational Session: Mushrooms in Schools

Join Mushrooms in Schools’ session to enhance your students’ plates— and your food budget —with nutrient-packed mushrooms. From procuring local mushrooms to serving flavorful entrées, we will be providing resources, tips and tricks for easily adding mushrooms to your menu lineup.

To learn more about the School Nutrition Industry Conference, click here.

Sales Materials

SCHOOL NUTRITION

Mushrooms in Schools created a Mushroom Sourcing Catalog, which can be found at our website. We encourage you to share on your own social channels and encourage your sales teams to share with your school foodservice clients and contacts.

Metrics

Mushroom Channel

Blenditarian

Hashtags

Monthly Topline Report

Tracker Highlights – Period ending 10/30/2021

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

When compared to 2019, the Fresh Mushroom category has shown strong dollar and volume growth. Mushroom dollar sales were up nearly +8% over the 2-year period, while volume increased by just over +2%. This growth added +$7.4M and 552k lbs. to the category since 2019.
During the past 4 weeks, Fresh Mushrooms experienced softer sales versus the pre-pandemic sales of 2019. Dollar sales for the mushroom category were down -6% and volume decreased by -9% for the 4-week period.

Total Mushrooms – 4 Weeks

Fresh Mushroom sales declined -6.1% in dollars, while Total Produce dollars were up +4.0% this period
Mushroom category volume decreased -8.8%, while the average price/lb. was up +2.9% to $4.38/lb.
Conventional dollar sales were down -7.0%, while Organic dollars were flat (+0.3%)

*IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing

Click Here for the Full Topline Report