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Cold Chain Research

This series of projects was undertaken by the Mushroom Council in 2003 and finalized in 2004.

The goal of this project was to understand the impact of maintaining the cold chain and it's ultimate impact on consumer purchase of mushrooms. The study documented the impact of the cold chain on overall mushroom quality. Click on the title to view each part of the project, and click on Final Report to view the entire project.

Three hundred word summary.

Executive Summary (Power Point Presentation).

Mushroom Peat Internet Survey (Power Point Presentation). An internet survey designed to measure the correlation between peat on mushrooms and mushroom purchase behavior.

Internet Single Photo Survey (Power Point Presentation). Designed to measure consumer perception of mushroom quality encountered in grocery stores.

Purchase Point Internet Survey (Power Point). This project was designed to determine the correlation of consumer perception of quality and purchase behavior.

Store Audit (Power Point - warning, this is a large file). Actual store data.

Cold Chain Audit Quality Assessment (Power Point). This survey was completed by researchers at Penn State University. The goal of the survey was to measure consumer purchase intent based on various cold chain scenarios established by the research.

Chart for In-Store Handling of Mushrooms

Cold Chain Results (Power Point). Analysis of Data and report on findings.

How Cold Chain Performance Impacts Mushroom Quality and Consumer Purchase. Final Cold Chain Summary (Power Point).

Mushroom Shrink Reduction Though Improved Cold-Chain Management.