Monthly Shipping and Marketing Report | October 2020

Council Update

The Council office has moved! Below is our new contact information. Reports & payments still go to the lockbox

Mushroom Council
200 NE Missouri Rd, Ste 200
Lee’s Summit, MO 64086
(816) 251-4512

Next Council meeting:
Scheduled as a Zoom meeting on February 18, 2021

Open Positions on the Council (2021-2023 term):
Ballots have been tabulated and background forms have been completed by those with the highest votes and pounds. The nomination package has been sent to USDA to have their names sent to the Secretary of Agriculture for possible appointment to the Council.

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

Shipment Summary

To see current charts, click here.

The Month Ahead

UPCOMING EVENTS

In October, the Council will be launching an online curriculum for retail dietitians via a partnership with RDBA. Later in the month, we are exhibiting at the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo. Participation includes a virtual expo booth that will include live, interactive videos and opportunities to chat with dietitians 1-on-1.

Highlights from September

PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Council received coverage throughout the month in the trades for the launch of Mushroom Month campaigns (The Packer, Produce Blue Book and The Produce News); The Blend To Go promotion in Cleveland (The Packer, Perishable News, Produce Blue Book); and the winner announcement of the Blended Burger Contest (The Packer, Perishable News).
MSN informed readers that mushrooms are “The Surprising Ingredient You Burger Patties Need” in a blend-focused post mid-month.

FOODSERVICE

To celebrate Mushroom Month, select members of “Cleveland Independents” – an association of the Cleveland area’s locally owned, independent restaurants – collaborated in a friendly competition in which chefs develop and menu a blended meat/mushroom dish specially made for carryout. Through Sept. 26, individuals were able to visit Cleveland Independents’ micro-website to discover each participants’ dish, view a specially created video about the dish and get info on how to order for carryout.

NUTRITION

The Council participated in the Nutrition News event reaching 30 food and nutrition editors and writers on September 16. Pam Smith, RD led a 30-minute cooking demo highlighting the nutrition benefits of The Blend and all attendees received gift boxes including nutrition handouts and mushroom swag. These attendees will be at the top of our pitch list for upcoming trend pitching.
Another event the Council participated in was the Retail Dietitians Business Alliance (RDBA) Virtual Experience, an event held September 22-24 and was exclusive to retail dietitians. Dr. Mark Lang is presenting a modified version of the webinar he presented earlier this year for RDBA titled “Consumer Insights: New Research Explaining Consumer Behavior Behind Food Trends” as part of a breakout session and 1-on-1 meetings were held with multiple retailers including Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Hy-Vee and Albertson’s.

Metrics

Mushroom Channel

Blenditarian

Hashtags

Special Campaigns

Monthly Topline Report

Tracker Highlights – Period ending 07/12/2020

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

In the 4-weeks – White mushroom segment drives double-digit category increases
In the 52-weeks – Mushroom category showing sustained growth

Mushrooms continued to show strong performance as a category with a total sales increase of +25.5%. This positioned mushrooms +15.5 points above total produce
Dollar growth was driven by an increase in volume (+21.4%) and average price/lb. (+3.3%)
All regions across the U.S. showed double-digit increases in dollar sales, led by California (+31.4%)
- Nearly all markets also showed double-digit dollar growth, led by Chicago at +41.8%
- Los Angeles was the second largest market in dollar sales ($5.6M) and posted the highest incremental dollar sales. Los Angeles added +$1.6M (+39.9%) to the category
Conventional and Organic mushroom sales increased this period. Conventional dollar sales increased +25.3% (+$20.3M) and contributed 86.4% of dollar growth, while Organic dollar sales increased +26.5% (+$3.2M)

*IRI/FreshLook Data provided by Fusion Marketing

Click Here for the Full Topline Report