MushroomCouncil.org: 2008 May

May 2008 Industry News

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

February 2008 total shipments based on Council assessment reports were up nearly 5% (3.4% ytd) vs. the same month last year, however, this February had an extra day, or nearly 4% more time to report. Current Charts

Fresh imports were up “only” 11% in February (up 16% ytd).

Domestic shipment figures were up 4% this February vs. last (up 2% ytd).

March 2008 Consumer Price Index (Bureau of Labor Statistics) % change from 2007:

All items 4.00%
Food 4.50%
Food at home 4.70%
Food away 4.10%
Fuels and Utilities 6.50%
Mushrooms (IRI) 3.30%

COUNCIL UPDATE

Vitamin D production research has been approved, but is not yet underway. There has been some question about the status of a project awarded to Dr. Beelman of Penn State to explore the efficacy of pulsed light as a method of activating D in fresh mushrooms. The simple facts are this will be a USDA oversen, Penn State executed project that will take time to get to contract then to complete and publish in a proper, scientific, academic manner. Anyone waiting for or expecting much from this any time soon is likely to become frustrated. If you wish to explore the concept of light enhanced mushrooms sooner rather than later, you might wish to contact the manufacturer of this technology directly.

Ballots will be mailed out on June 2nd. Mail completed ballots to the Council office. They must be postmarked no later than June 30th to be counted.

The Council has been doing some work on the www.mushroomcouncil.org website. A Resources tab has been added which we will use to post new materials such as newsletters and press releases. A Recipes tab has also been added where recipes and pictures can now be downloaded. These changes will enable everyone to have information at their fingertips. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make this website better, please call Cheryl at the Council office.

MARKETING SUMMARY

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS/PLACEMENTS TO DATE:
April impressions review:

Program	April 2008 Impressions	Total Year Impressions	% of annual goal	% of last year same time period
Consumer/Nutrition	60,428,876	275,490,734	69%	104%
Foodservice	588,491	2,033,775	75%	105%
Retail	47,535	280,267	34%	29%

Vitamin D was the number one nutrient promoted in the month of April

24 placements, 34% of April placements

There were a total of 14 superfood placements in April

In April, Mario Batali conducted a three-minute mushroom recipe demonstration and delivered mushroom key messages on the “Rachael Ray” daytime talk show. The segment also included 30 seconds of Rosie O’Donnell testing Mario’s Portabella recipe and talking positively about mushrooms. The segment can be viewed here http://media.vmsnews.com/MR.pl?id=042808-857901-P001392915

Web traffic update: Part of the Council’s effort to educate consumers about mushrooms is to drive traffic to the Council’s informative website. In March we saw an increase on both Mushroom Council Web sites. Mushroominfo.com had a 52.2 percent increase and mushroomcouncil.org had a 38.5 percent increase of visitors in the month of March. The increase in traffic may be due to the January-March proactive media outreach. For example, on March 5 and March 26 mushroominfo.com had visitor peaks, which was the day after Miami Herald’s, “5 Things you didn’t know about mushrooms” article was published and Miami Herald’s Hispanic publication El Nuevo Herald, “Los hongos nueva fuente de vitamina” ran. To see a detailed review of the Council’s comprehensive web traffic report click here.

On the Foodservice front:

Meetings with Ruth’s Chris, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Season’s 52 last month all uncovered promotional opportunities for late 2008. In all 3 cases, mushroom items are now in the pipeline, and the Council can play a role in making the new items a success with consumers.
We have developed a new foodservice collateral piece: Umami: Discover the Taste of Nature’s Hidden Treasure. Click here to see the piece. The Council has copies of this in stock. If you would like to order copies, send an e-mail to: cheryl@mushroomcouncil.org.
For more on the status of Council foodservice promotional pursuits click here. To see new mushroom menu items for April click here.

On the Retail front:
- The new retail newsletter, The Mushroom Marketplace, is ready for you to use with your accounts. It has been posted to our website under the Resource tab. Click here to see the newsletter.
- The Council is announcing the Weight Watcher’s partnership, to retailers and the trade press. The announcement is ready and is posted on our website www.mushroomcouncil.org under the Resource tab. Feel free to send the release to your own customers as well. Click here to see the Industry Release. Click here to see the Trade Release.
- March reportedly posted a gain in pounds sold through large traditional supermarkets of just over 1%, though year to date and 52 weeks totals remain flat. On a dollar basis, mushroom sales are up 3.4% ytd, while total produce sales are up 3.6%. Click here for the rest of the story. Supermarket sales reports from IRI scanner data are created each month and following each quarter and are posted online via the COGNOS online reporting system. If you do not have your access code and password yet, or forgot the one issued to you, please contact Cheryl to retrieve.