April 2009 Industry News

On March 18, mushrooms debuted on the CBS “Super Screen” in New York’s Times Square. The “Mushrooms: Every Day, Every Way” ad runs twice an hour for 18 hours a day and is expected to receive approximately 1.5 million daily impressions. Click here to see the ad live in Times Square. Stay tuned next month to see the “Mushroom Nutrition”

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

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

	Jan-09	Jan-08	% change	YTD 09	YTD 08	% change
Total Shipments	61.01	63.37	-3.73	61.01	63.37	-3.73
Domestic Shipments	53.04	55.75	-4.86	53.04	55.75	-4.86
PA	32.01	32.93	-2.79	32.01	32.93	-2.79
CA	9.45	10.03	-5.73	9.45	10.03	-5.73
Rest of US	11.58	12.79	-9.48	11.58	12.79	-9.48
Imports	7.97	7.63	4.47	7.97	7.63	4.47

COUNCIL UPDATE

The call for Nomination has been sent out. Nomination need to be postmarked by May 1^st to be eligible. Please note that: **USDA encourages all eligible producers including women, minorities and individuals with disabilities to participate in the nominations and seek nomination to serve on the Council**

At the February Council meeting, an election of officers was held with the following unanimous selections:
                                              Chairperson:    Greg McLain
                                              Vice-Chair:      Joe Caldwell
                                              Secretary:       Paul Frederic
                                              Treasurer:        Fletcher Street

Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit is October 2 – 5, 2009 in Anaheim, CA. The opening keynote speaker will be Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Also speaking is David Plouffe, campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. For more information, click Fresh Summit.

The next Council meeting is being held on May 28-29 in Chicago. If you are interested in attending, please let us know so that arrangements can be made.

New Postings to the Council website:            PP2 sell sheet & recipes
                                                                  PP3 sell sheet & recipes
                                                                  Vitamin D Focus Groups Summary Report

MARKETING SUMMARY

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS/PLACEMENTS TO DATE:
March impressions overview:

Program	March 2009 Impressions	% of March 2008 Impressions	Total Year Impressions to Date*	% of Annual Goal
Consumer/Nutrition	32,565,262 53,565,262**	67%	300,975,104	60%
Foodservice	766,764	67%	1,206,014	38%
Retail	195,096	N/A	438,124	26%

                  *Note, total year impressions includes impression numbers from early April 2009
                **Note, this includes impressions from the “Mushrooms: Every Day, Every Way” ad running in
                Times Square from March 18-30. The numbers and percents provided in the above table are
                based off of this number. Estimated audience reach is 1.5 million per day.

In March, the Mushroom Council had an average of 43 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. Note that there are always external factors or industry forces that could change that metric.

Week Ending	Mushroom Council Generated Placements	% of Total Mushroom Coverage	Type of Outreach
March 7	18	60 percent	Proactive
March 14	10	38 percent	Proactive
March 21	15	36 percent	Proactive
March 31	11	38 percent	Proactive
Total	54	43 percent	Proactive

Mushrooms in the News: ThreeRecipePictures

Mushroom Council’s PP1 recipes Baked Mushroom Parmesan and Mushroom and Smoked Salmon Frittata have garnered more than 56 million impressions combined largely based on pitching efforts. The Baked Mushroom Parmesan is the second most popular recipe in Mushroom Council history, following 2008’s Mini Mushroom Burgers. The recipes have been featured in nearly 40 online and print publications, including Reuters, Hungry Girl, Cooking.com, and Omaha World-Herald.

To date, the Council’s Taste of Home “Mushrooms Every Day, Every Way Recipe Contest” has been featured in nearly 25 publications, garnering more than 25 million impressions. As of April 13, there are more than 1,200 recipes entered.

In the April issue of Reader’s Digest, mushrooms were featured in the article titled, “The Magic of Mushrooms.” The article highlighted mushrooms’ nutritional benefits, health attributes, and Cheskin research on swapping meat for mushrooms. This placement garnered nearly 34 million print impressions and nearly 1.5 million online impressions.

In the March issue of Woman’s World, mushrooms were highlighted in the “Smart Switches!” column. The article suggested trying mushrooms instead of beef in lasagna to save 400 calories. This placement garnered more than 5.5 million impressions.
Body + Soul directed readers to the produce aisle for burger cravings in its March issue. The article noted that a grilled Portabella mushroom can be just as filling as a meat burger. This placement garnered more than 2.3 million impressions.

In the March issue of Today’s Dietitian, mushrooms were featured as an affordable, nutrient-rich food. Chef Kyle Shadix, MS, RD suggested adding mushrooms to everyday meals for an extra boost of vitamin D.

Mushrooms’ vitamin D properties were highlighted in 13 placements, including Today’s Dietitian, Orlando Sentinel online, and Rocky Mount Telegram. To date, in 2009, vitamin D placements have resulted in more than 75 million impressions.

Mushrooms were featured as an affordable, inexpensive food in five placements garnering more than 8.5 million impressions in outlets, such as Reuters, Fit Sugar and Today’s Dietitian.

Mushroom Council-funded research on the weight management of swapping mushrooms for meat was highlighted in 10 placements, accounting for more than 15 million impressions. Publications include Body + Soul, First for Women, Woman’s World and The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Mushrooms’ health attributes and immunity boosting properties were highlighted in 21 placements, generating nearly 17 million impressions in publications such as Reuters, Cancer Monthly, and Health News Digest.

Mushroom Council placements represented an average of 43 percent of total mushroom news, which is withinthe norm of 33 to 75 percent during a period of proactive outreach. To view all March placements click here.

Vitamin D Update:

Two focus groups were recently held in San Antonio, Texas preceding the Mushroom Council’s first meeting of the year. Participants said the economy has impacted their shopping behavior, being more careful of indulgent impulses, and more influenced by sales/coupons. AND in the case of vitamin D, there seemed to be some awareness of the importance of vitamin D, but none of them felt it applied to them, even though research shows that 75% of the US population has insufficient levels of D. Clearly there is more education necessary about the need for D, let alone where to get it. To see for yourself what these mushroom buyers had to say, click here.

The David Haytowitz / USDA project to determine the vitamin D content of mushrooms commonly found in grocery stores began with sample pick up the weeks of March 30 and April 6. This data will be used to update and expand the values for mushrooms in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata). Dr. Haytowitz commits to having the data ready for inclusion in SR 22, slated for release in August. See http://ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=416511

Ian Munro/Cantox, analytical protocol for sampling UV exposed, non-exposed and sunlight exposed white button mushrooms to generate data to support “substantial equivalency” has been approved. The timeline for initiating the protocol is late May-June.

Mona Calvo/Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), FDA, Laurel, MD research on “Disease resistance and vitamin D rich mushroom consumption” anticipates preliminary data on D2 bioavailability and bone changes in female rodents summer, 2009.

On the Foodservice Front:

The Mushroom Council recently hosted a week-long promotion with University of Massachusetts Dining Services to support their “American Produce Week.” University of Massachusetts Dining Services uses more than 60,000 pounds of mushrooms a year. During the promotion, fresh mushroom recipes were served to more than 2,500 students. Along with University-created materials promoting the event in advance, Mushroom Council marketing materials highlighting the health benefits and varieties of fresh mushrooms were also distributed to the students.

The latest foodservice educational piece, a “Mushroom Varieties Poster,” is now available to the industry. The art-quality poster showcases the five most popular fresh mushroom varieties with cooking tips, techniques and flavor combinations for each variety. To download a pdf of the poster, click here.

The poster will be distributed to chef educators at the Annual Leadership Conference in June hosted by Center of Advancement for Foodservice Education (CAFE) and Johnson & Wales University. It will also be distributed in five culinary workshops offered through CAFE during the summer months.

To obtain copies of the poster contact the Mushroom Council at 408-432-7210.

The Mushroom Council recently hosted a week-long promotion with University of Massachusetts Dining Services to support their “American Produce Week.” University of Massachusetts Dining Services uses more than 60,000 pounds of mushrooms a year. During the promotion, fresh mushroom recipes were served to more than 2,500 students. Along with University-created materials promoting the event in advance, Mushroom Council marketing materials highlighting the health benefits and varieties of fresh mushrooms were also distributed to the students.

The Council secured 10 foodservice media placements in March. Each placement reinforced mushrooms’ versatility in ethnic cuisines, and two articles featured in Plate Magazine showcased recipes presented at the Worlds of Flavor conference.

For an update on the status of the Council’s foodservice promotional pursuits, click here; to see new mushroom menu items for February click here.

On the Retail Front:

Marketing fresh mushrooms correctly can pump an additional $44 million into the U.S. retail industry, representing an increase in sales at an individual store of at least 6.1 percent! This finding and more was part of the Retail Best Practices newsletter that was finalized and distributed to retailers and the industry. To view the newsletter and initial findings, click here. Additionally, the Council developed a press release highlighting the findings to share with media, which will be available soon.

The Packer featured a story about the value of promoting and merchandising mushrooms, and he was featured in the blog, “Fresh Talk.” To view the full Q&A, click here. The Mushroom Council was also featured in the “Supplier Guide” of Food Processing Magazine.

The Council has developed retail sell sheets for PP2 - Adding Value with Mushrooms; and PP3 - Retail Best Practices/Going Pink, which can be used to share recipes and insights with retailers. The recipes for PP2 and PP3 can be downloaded by clicking here.