Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | May 2020

Council Update

Stay Up-To-Date with Industry News

As part of our mandate to provide the industry with the most up to date information Bart Minor, Mushroom Council President, will be providing timely updates on events and news as it affects the mushroom industry. View past newsletters here.

If you would like to receive this newsletter, please subscribe via this link: http://eepurl.com/gWWjHj

Open Positions on the Council (2021-2023 term):
Nominations are now closed. Ballots will be sent out no later than June 1, 2020.

• Region 1 (All states except CA & PA) – one open position
• Region 2 (PA) – one open position
• Region 4 (Importers) – 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 nomination.

Council Meeting:

• The next Council meeting will take place on June 25-26, 2020. Because of the current situation regarding social gatherings, the meeting will be held via the Zoom platform. If you would like to attend, please reach out to [email protected].

Have you seen the new website?

This site brings together all the council microsites into one resource for industry members, retailers, dietitians, school nutrition and foodservice professionals. 

Click here to take a tour of the new and improved mushroomcouncil.org

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

DIGITAL

• The Second Annual Blended Burger Contest in partnership with Bon Appétit kicks off May 1st. Home cooks are encouraged to submit their own blended burger recipe for a chance to video chat with Senior Food Editor of Bon Appétit, Chris Morocco as he tests their burgers and then awards $10,000 to one grand prize winner.
  • Promote the contest with customers, retailers and consumers by downloading and sharing contest materials.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• The Council completed the production of 10 new training videos for school nutrition directors and managers and staff. These videos will be available on the Mushroom Council YouTube Channel. Once they are posted, we encourage you to share on your own social channels and encourage your sales teams to share with your school nutrition clients and contacts.

Highlights from April

DIGITAL

• News of increasing mushroom sales in retail gained coverage in trade publications: The Produce News, FreshPlaza, Produce Blue Book, The Packer and Perishable News.
• The Council’s Cook Comfort Food Once, Enjoy It Twice syndicated article was distributed mid-month. The article currently has 1,000+ placements, including: Star Tribune, Arizona Republic, Boston Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Yahoo! Finance.
• The Council published and shared content to address consumers cooking more at home and those looking for nutritious ingredients. View the blog posts here:
  • Feed Your Immune System
  • Spending More Time Cooking? Let Us Help.
  • Cook Comfort Food Once, Enjoy It Twice
  • SCHOOL NUTRITIONThe K-12 team will use social media and partner ad placements to promote the new videos and all the updated Mushrooms In Schools materials. Please check out the new educational materials here. 
• We encourage you to share on your own social channels and encourage your sales teams to share with your school nutrition clients and contacts.

SCHOOL NUTRITION

• The K-12 team will use social media and partner ad placements to promote the new videos and all the updated Mushrooms In Schools materials. Please check out the new educational materials here. We encourage you to share on your own social channels and encourage your sales teams to share with your school nutrition clients and contacts.

Digital Metrics

Mushroom Channel

Blenditarian

Special Campaigns: Q1

Digital Metrics

Tracker Highlights – Period ending 02/23/2020

• Download the Highlights (4 & 52 Weeks) Report
• Download the Graphic Highlights Report

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

• In the 4-weeks – Fresh mushroom category shows strong dollar and volume growth
• In the 52-weeks – Dollar sales tick up +0.2%, driven by Cremini and Specialty mushrooms

*IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing