Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | July 2021

Council Update

Assessments in Arrears

Last April, the Council sent the industry a note which partly stated:

In this difficult and uncertain time, the Mushroom Council’s board of directors want to support our growers and shippers. If you are having a hard time making on-time payments to the Council, please give us a call so we can discuss how we might be able to assist.

As of July 1, 2021, the Council has elected to resume business as usual. The offer to ask USDA OGC (Office of General Council) for possible forgiveness of penalties and interest has expired. If you would like to be considered for P&I relief, you must bring your account current.

As a reminder, the current month’s assessments are due on the 15th of the following month.

For those who are in arrears, the Council has approved ways to bring your accounts current. The Council will contact those that this impacts to put a plan in place for catching up on past assessments.

It should be noted that all assessments for the month of July 2021 (due Aug 15) and going forward are due on the regular due dates. All payments made after July will be the payment of the plan agreed upon to catch up on past due amounts plus the normal assessment for the last calendar month.

For any questions, contact: [email protected]

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

Ballots are in and are being tallied. Background forms will be sent to those that qualify. The nomination package will be put together for forwarding to the Secretary of Agriculture for appointments.

• Region 2 (PA) – two open positions
• Region 3 (CA) – one open position

Meetings

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

Annual Industry Meeting:
September 8, 2021 @ 3:00pm eastern via Zoom. More information to follow at a later date.

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

• Contribute to an upcoming RDBA newsletter promoting new resources (Mushroom portal at RetailDietitians.com and PBH Feed Your Immune System signage campaign).
• With summer finally here, the Council will be sharing recipes and hacks for taking mushrooms on the go. Download ‘Mushrooms On the Go’ graphics to share on social media throughout the month of July.

FOODSERVICE

• Jersey Mike’s is promoting its Mushroom and Swiss Sub more heavily heading into Summer. As it was so successful in late Spring, Jersey Mike’s decided to develop a TV spot to promote it.
• Starbucks continues to menu and market their Kale and Portabella Egg Bites.
• Togo’s is promoting their Steak and Mushroom Sub.
• Be sure to order all of these menu items whenever you can, and promote to distributors, chains or even local restaurants that you go to.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• From July 12 – 15, Mushroom in Schools is participating as an exhibitor in the School Nutrition Association’s annual conference. The conference is virtual and attended widely, and Mushrooms in Schools’ virtual booth will support networking and resource-sharing with school nutrition professionals. Please encourage your school nutrition community to stop by our booth and set up a meeting with Malissa Marsden. At the end of July, Mushrooms in Schools’ recently recorded First Taste TV Episode will air. Please encourage your school nutrition community to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be notified of the episode release!

Highlights from June

PUBLIC RELATIONS & DIGITAL

• The Blended Burger Contest partnership with Food Network wrapped on June 25. Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners in the coming months and in the meantime, see entries from Instagram:
  • Smoked Mushroom Chicken Tikka Burger from @sneha_katya_rao
  • Bourbon Whisky BBQ Mushroom Burger from @lisawaldecklvrealrestate
  • Surf and Turf Burger from @yswubdaisuki
  • Bibimbap Shiitake Sirloin Burger from @lidiacooks
• Nation’s Restaurant News shared a Council-sponsored article on the “5 Reason to menu mushroom blended burgers now.” Read more on how the trend is evolving at foodservice.
• Mushroom lovers expressed interest in lion’s mane mushrooms in a recent post on Facebook. See what Facebook fans had to say about this variety here.
• Launched Mushroom Council sponsor page with Retail Dietitians Business Alliance (RDBA) at RetailDietitians.com as a one-stop portal for mushroom resources and nutrition information.
• Together with Produce for Better Health (PBH), the Council created and distributed new Feed Your Immune System signage for retailers and retail dietitians to download and display in their stores.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• In June, Mushrooms in Schools added a new resource to the blog uncovering common culinary myths about mushrooms (with bonus social media graphics for sharing). We continue to collect and share fresh mushroom recipes, such as our newly added Hungarian Soup Recipe from our School Lunch Hero Success Story about Grove City Area School District, on our Facebook page.

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