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August 2010 Industry News

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

Mushroom Council First Handler Reports (millions of pounds; totals may not match due to rounding).

Current Charts	May-10	May-09	% change	YTD 10	YTD 09	% change
Total Shipments	63.90	59.48	7.44	318.24	298.11	6.75
Domestic Shipments	56.40	52.61	7.21	279.74	262.40	6.61
PA	35.71	32.02	11.52	171.54	156.48	9.62
CA	9.18	9.06	1.36	48.21	47.14	2.26
Rest of US	11.52	11.54	-0.16	59.99	58.77	2.07
Imports	7.50	6.87	9.18	38.50	35.72	7.79

COUNCIL UPDATE

Audits for the 2009 calendar year are quickly approaching. All handlers received a letter from the Council office in regards to amending Handler Reports without penalty & interest. Since we have had the certification training the Council agreed to let all handlers, if necessary, amend all 2009 to current handler reports. The deadline to submit these amended reports is September 1^st. If you are audited and it is found that you did not amend your reports, you will be assessed penalties & late fees. If you have any questions or need any assistance, contact Cheryl.

To see the May issue of the Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative Bulletin, click here.

MARKETING SUMMARY

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS/PLACEMENTS TO DATE:
July impressions overview:

Program	July 2010 Impressions	% of July 2009 Impressions	Total Year Impressions to Date	% of Annual Goal
Consumer/Nutrition	18,325,455	19%	506,101,539	92%
Foodservice	361,645	36%	4,520,851	119%
Retail	39,180	21%	1,424,306	64%

           In June, the Mushroom Council had an average of 37 percent share of voice. While
           conducting proactive media outreach, we generally expect Mushroom Council coverage to
           represent between 33-75 percent of mushroom placements, according to average
           consumer product and commodity industry standards. Keep in mind, July was planned to
           be a less proactive media month, focusing more on opportunistic media around
           grilling/Independence Day and/or reactive requests. Because of this, we expected share
           of voice to be somewhat lower than the proactive norm of 33-75 percent. Note, these
           figures exclude coverage related to local mushroom festivals and development of green
           packaging techniques, because they do not contain mushroom messaging are thus not
           relevant when determining share of voice.

Mushroom Share of Voice:

Week Ending	Mushroom Council Generated Placements	% of Total Mushroom Coverage**	Type of Outreach
July 3	5	39 percent	Proactive
July 10	7	39 percent	Proactive
July 17	10	53 percent	Reactive
July 24	3	19 percent	Reactive
July 31	2	29 percent	Reactive
Total	27	37 percent	Reactive

*This does not include mushroom recipe coverage that is not Council-generated.

June 2010 Sales

Through June 20, 2010 mushroom pounds at retail are up 5.9%, accounting for $422 million in sales according to Fresh Look Marketing data. Sales are up nearly $30 million over the same time period in 2009.

Mushrooms in the News and Online:

On July 24, Greg McLain participated in a radio interview with “Into the Soup,” a weekly foodie radio show based in Phoenix, AZ that garners an audience of 60,000 listeners. This interview is notable because the opportunity came to fruition online via Facebook: host Heidi Lee Simpson was preparing for the show by googling mushrooms to get more information; she came across the Council via organic search terms, explored mushroominfo.com and reached out to us on the Council’s Facebook page. Social media continues to be a rewarding tool for conversation with consumers, but this interview demonstrates how the Council’s social media assets can garner media attention and be used to build relationships with producers/editors. In fact, after the show aired, the Council posted a link to the interview on the Mushroom Channel Facebook page and Heidi immediately responded with a comment to say that she loved having Greg on the air. Listen to the interview with "Into the Soup" (interview begins at the 35:50 mark).

The first results from the Council’s New York City deskside tour with Dr. Chen (City of Hope) and Dave Grotto (author and registered dietitian) have appeared in the August issues freep.com

of Self and Shape magazines for a combined readership of more than 13 million. Mushrooms have a prime callout in the print and online versions of Self’s superfood article entitled, “Shed Years & Pounds in 7 Days.” The Shape article identified mushrooms as one of the essential foods for women in their 40’s within the headlined story promoting “The 15 Best Powerfoods for Women.”

In advance of the 4^th of July holiday; the Council distributed an e-blast to media to take advantage of holiday recipe roundups. The e-blast was sent to the top 500 short lead food and features editors, suggesting three Council-generated recipes for readers to try during their Independence Day BBQs: Quick and Easy Barbecue Pork and Mushrooms, Grilled Portabella Caps Stuffed with Herb Cheese, and last year’s grilling favorite, Mushroom Chips and Dip. Coverage appeared in the Daily Herald (Everett, WA), Detroit Free Press, Grand Forks Herald, Cape Cod Times.

To view all July placements, click here.

July Twitter activity resulted in 130,999 online impressions, a four percent decrease from June, likely due to an anticipated decrease in online activity from followers during the summer months. Of the top 100 most influential followers of the Mushroom Channel:

The Council increased its Twitter followers and Facebook “likes” (formerly known as “fans”) to 1968 total to date, a four percent increase from last month.

In July, the Council’s consumer-facing website, MushroomInfo.com, experienced 10,222 unique visitors. This was a slight increase from the previous month. The Mushroom Channel was in the top five landing pages for visitors to Mushroominfo.com. Meanwhile recipes and the recipe search function were in the top five content areas visitors viewed the most. This shows that while the Mushroom Channel helps attract readers to the site, many of them choose to explore more recipe information from Mushroominfo.com.

In July, Meatless Monday was the hottest topic among Council Twitter followers and fans on Facebook. The Council also live-tweeted the Culinary Challenge at the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) conference which generated more than 4,800 Twitter impressions and 19 new followers alone.

The Council continuously seeks out influential tweeters to correspond with. Fueled by the foodservice energy at NACUFS earlier this summer, building relationships online with restaurant and foodservice contacts has been top of mind. In response to a great mushroom display photo the Council had tweeted, Billy Dec (Chicago restaurateur/entrepreneur) struck up a conversation about mushroom dishes and recipes.

BillyDec

Nutrition News:

The Mushroom Council distributed its summer “News About Mushrooms” e-newsletter to approximately 2,000 nutrition influencers on August 5. In the newsletter, Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., discusses the importance of vitamin D. The issue also introduces new mushroom research and resources, and offers a download on the relevance of umami. In addition, the “Baja Salmon with Mushrooms,” is promoted as a “D”lightful mushroom recipe to bring vitamin D to the table for dinner. To view the entire newsletter, click here. Preliminary results indicate an open rate of 18 percent, fitting within industry standards. Additionally, the Council saw immediate responses from recipients and followed up with Nancy Tschiltz, MS, RD, LDN, (dietitian/chef with the Integrative Cardiac Health Project at Walter Reed Army Medical Center) and Karen Buch, RD, LDN, (director of Lifestyle Initiatives at Weis Markets) to provide additional information about the recipes and a potential retail partnership opportunity, respectively.

On July 15, the Council submitted written comments to the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion on the Final Report of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). The Council promoted mushrooms as a nutritious, wholesome, versatile and affordable food item that can easily be incorporated into many dietary patterns throughout the year. The comments included specific information regarding vitamin D content as well as tips, meal plans and recipes featuring nutrient-dense, low-sodium mushrooms within the context of helping Americans make a sustainable and meaningful change in their diets. The Council’s comments will be considered as the DGAC report is translated into the consumer-facing 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, slated by the end of 2010. (Click here and continue to page 36 to see the Council’s comments.)

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) hosted its annual meeting and food expo in Chicago from July 17-20. Three Council-funded research projects were presented at the poster sessions including:

On the Retail and Foodservice Front:

Mushrooms were included in The Packer’s 2010 Guide. The four-page mushroom section highlighted retail best practices such as proper display, cold chain management and promotional techniques, as well as nutritional benefits. This placement resulted in a total of 39,180 impressions for the month of July. Additionally, the Council worked to secure placements for mushroom marketing sections in upcoming issues of The Packer, Produce Retailer (formerly Produce Merchandising), Produce Business and Produce News.

The Council began development of the PP3 retail newsletter, which will focus on promotions around National Mushroom Month, Going Pink and a byline from Encore Associates on impressive mushroom sales and their strong growth. The PP2 retail newsletter, which was distributed on June 30, 2010, had an open rate of 31%, with a click through rate of 6%. These figures are in line with industry standards for newsletters of this nature.

While many growers already speak to the media, the Council is looking to position you in a “Grower Spotlight” pitch to targeted retail publications around National Mushroom Month, offering a Q&A type interview, pending interest and availability. If you’re interested and open to being positioned for an interview, please contact Lexie Alcon at Lexie.Alcon@edelman.com.

The Council pursues editorial opportunities on an ongoing basis to promote mushrooms with various trade publications. Please share with us any news or information from your region for the following upcoming opportunities:

On the foodservice media front, mushrooms were featured in eight different articles throughout July, which resulted in 241,645 impressions. These media placements included recipes and photos in National Culinary Review, Food Management, Flavor and the Menu and On Campus Hospitality.The Flavor and the Menu article focused on new uses for everyday food items and uniquely positioned mushrooms as part of desserts, such as the Candy Cap Mushroom Panna Cotta with Caramelized Bananas and Candied Bacon developed for the Council by Chef Todd Humphries of the Martini House in St. Helena, Calif.

The Mushroom Council attended the 2010 NACUFS Culinary Challenge, which took place on July 8 in San Jose, CA. The 2010 Culinary Challenge's featured ingredient was the 4.5"-5" portabella mushroom; the mushrooms used during the Challenge were donated by the Council. The competing chefs previously won 6 different regional contests, before they faced the best-of-the-best at NACUFS. The chefs prepared four portions of an original hot entrée as part of a live-action competition. The winner of the competition was Chef Kylie Charter, Rhode Island School of Design, who wowed judges with her Stuffed Salmon, Vegetables and Muscat Mustard Crème, served with Portabella Gundi and Pea Green and Radish Salad.

Throughout the NACUFS competition, the Council conducted “live tweeting” via www.twitter.com/mushroomchannel and posted photos to Twitter and Facebook. As a result of the team’s efforts:

To see new mushroom menu items for July, click here.

For larger image, click here.

     Latest results; momentum is beginning to soften in the last 4 weeks with only a 1% Lbs
     increase versus YAGO in the latest 4 weeks. However, annual trend is still running at 6%
     trend. Starting to see pound decreases in two of the largest regions, Northeast and Great
     Lakes. To view the current Top-line report click here.

On the Pink Front:

In July, the Council added a new retailer tool to the pink sales kit. The retailer flyer is for shippers to include with their pink till shipments to remind retailers of the breast cancer research being conducted and the important promotion techniques that will help boost sales. The website includes a version that shippers can modify by adding their own logo.

The Council also developed a template press release for industry use. The release has blanks where the industry can fill in details including their spokesperson and retailers that will be carrying their tills. This should be distributed to local daily and weekly newspapers in September to raise additional awareness about the pink mushroom tills.

The Council and City of Hope are currently reviewing all on-pack labels featuring the pink promotion. Be sure to have your designer send the mock-up to Bree Flammini at bree.flammini@edelman.com for review and approval. Please provide at least 48 hours for review.

All pink materials are now available on the Retail Sales Tools section of the website here. The external materials are available for use at retail immediately. Use the internal documents as a guide to going pink, and utilize the additional information to inform your conversations with retailers.

This web site is paid for by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990. This act allows commercial producers of fresh mushrooms the right to orderly collect assessments on domestic and imported fresh mushrooms. These funds are then used for the purpose of strengthening the mushroom industry's position in the marketplace, maintaining and expanding existing markets for mushrooms, and developing new markets and uses for fresh mushrooms.