Shipping Reports

Monthly Shipping Report | August 2014

August 28, 2014

COUNCIL UPDATE

  • Ballots have been counted and based on the criteria provided in Section 1209.31 (f) (2) of the Order used for selecting two nominees for each position two names for each position have been submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for possible appointment onto the Council.
  • The next Council meeting is being held on September 8-9, 2014 in Kennett Square, PA. If you are interested in attending, please contact [email protected] so we can make sure that you are accommodated.
  • The August issue of Mushrooms and Health Global Initiative Bulletin can be viewed here.

 

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

First Handler Report April 2014

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To see current charts click here.

 

MARKETING SUMMARY

Mushroom Council Marketing Summary –July 2014

July 2014 Media Impressions

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  • Three New York City food bloggers visited Chef Jehangir Mehta’s Graffiti booth at the Broadway Bites pop-up food festival in NYC. They interviewed Jehangir and sampled the Blendability burger, mushroom blend and vegetarian dumplings. Preliminary results of the meet-up include:
    • 40K+ impressions across social media detailing consumer and blogger experiences
    • Blog post on the Mushroom Channel with event highlights
    • First blogger review; remaining posts to be published in September
  • Blended mushroom meatballs were served at the U.S. Senate Committee hearing on school lunch solutions (7/23). Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. arranged for his colleagues to sample the mushroom meatballs as an example of new products being introduced into school meals to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional guidelines — read the full press release here. Resulting coverage appeared in The Packer, Digital Journal, And Now You Know Produce Industry News and CQ on Agriculture & Food. These will be reported in next month’s shipment report.
  • The Council interviewed 14 sports dietitians who advise and counsel athletes as well as foodservice providers to ascertain their baseline knowledge about mushrooms and nutritional challenges they face in their roles within colleges and universities. Results are being used to develop content to help make mushrooms part of their standard meal plan recommendations.
  • Following introductions and the Oldways Supermarket Dietitian Symposium, the Mushroom Council worked with Kroger to support two consumer-facing activations featuring Blendability sampling and information exchange. More than 35 in-store burger blend sampling events and a community wellness fair are expected to reach more than 5K consumers in August and September.
  • Swap It or Top ItThe consumer “Swap It or Top It” recipe contest has garnered 120 submissions as of July 31. The contest runs through August 15, at which point a panel of judges comprised of Council representatives, celebrity chefs Jehangir Mehta and Linton Hopkins and representatives from the Partnership for a Healthier America will review and judge entries. Winners will be promoted in September during National Mushroom Month.
    • Three Facebook posts about the contest reached over 180K people and generated 12K+ likes and 760+ shares at $0.14 cost per post like, $5.53 cost per every 1K engagements (likes, shares, comments)
  • Mushroom Council participated in three Twitter parties in July:
    • Cooking with Caitlin and Foodies Nite In chat showcased how mushrooms can be used to add variation in traditional barbecue recipes while increasing the health element in cook-out menus (50+ unique participants, 570+ tweets and 160K+ impressions)
    • GIANT Food Stores highlighted mushroom health benefits in conversations surrounding healthy eating while defining mushrooms as a meat alternative (40 unique participants, 700+ tweets and 68K+ impressions)
    • Partnership for a Healthier America featured mushroom versatility, benefits of Blendability and revamping family meals (390+ unique participants, 3K+ tweets and 3.9M+ impressions)

  • The Mushroom Channel engaged with seven foodservice partners: Maggiano’s Little Italy, D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches, Olive Garden, Eat N’ Park, Ruby Tuesday’s, Bravo Cucina Italiana and Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill.
    • Romano’s Macaroni Grill added a mushroom blended rustic meatball recipe to their menu
    • Three Mushroom Channel bloggers visited Seasons 52 to experience the Duxelle Burger (21K + impressions)

  • Five promoted Facebook posts included content around the School Nutrition Association’s National Conference, the Fourth of July and “Swap It or Top It.” (An additional $1K was added to monthly budget for Swap/Top promotion)
    • Posts generated 16K+ likes, 1K+ shares, 470+ link clicks, reached over 250K people and resulted in a $0.15 cost per post like and $5.47 cost per every 1K engagements
  • Google search ad words accounted for 13.5% of the nearly 12K total visits to MushroomInfo.com in July. Top performing paid keywords included: mushroom recipes, vitamin D foods and stuffed mushrooms.
  • 18 new recipes were submitted to the Council by the network of Meatless Monday bloggers through the “Mushroom Makeover Challenge.” An E-Cookbook was created with all recipes and will be shared by Meatless Monday across their online networks as well as on the Council’s social media channels— see full cookbook on MushroomInfo.com.Meatless Monday Cookbook

ON THE HORIZON

  • Consumer media and digital promotion in support of National Mushroom Month.
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2014 Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) will take place in Atlanta (10/18-21). The Council will be hosting a booth with samples and information to educate registered dietitians about mushrooms health and culinary benefits.
June14 Traffic

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For more detailed social analytics download the NEW Social Analytics Report here.

 

FOODSERVICE SUMMARY

Marketing Summary
“The Trend is to Blend” is becoming a strong theme this summer. Chains, hospitals, colleges and business dining operations all added blendability to their menus, while the Council continued to activate blending and other promotions.

Chains Are Blending: Seasons 52 continues to menu it’s Signature Burger with its mushroom duxelle blended into the burger. While it is available only on the lunch menu, if you request it at dinner, they will make it for you. While Seasons 52 is not necessarily a burger restaurant, they are having great success with guests loving the blend. Also this summer, Romano’s Macaroni Grill introduced its Veal and Mushroom-blended meatball. As part of their Rustic Kitchen Meatballs special, they are made with veal and wild mushrooms with house-roasted garlic, caramelized onions and mushroom marsala wine sauce.chains-blending_meatballs-burger

compass-recipe-contestNon-Commercial is Blending: More and more new operators are moving to the Blend. University of Miami, University of Utah, Briarcliff University, Savannah Memorial Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Medical Centers of the Carolinas are just a few that have gotten on-board. Compass and the Mushroom Council just completed a recipe contest with a number of creative new recipes. Chefs from a number of segments competed in the contest and then gathered together to cook up even more recipes.

Blendability Builds Momentum: Everyone by now should have seen the Washington Post on blendability that started with the Council’s participation at CIA’s Menus of Change. The writer sampled the blend as menued by CIA and Harvard and was enamored with the blend’s potential to reduce calories and improve taste. Now the article is being picked up by other posts, blogs, newspapers and more. To see the article, click here.

plate-magAs part of our partnership with Plate Magazine, the publication ran an “advertorial” in the latest issue on Vegetables. The “advertorial showcased the meatballs that were created by Clyde Common in Portland at last year’s Chefs Table. That recipe, which was served with Piri Piri sauce is now also on our website. The publication has a readership study, so we will be able to see how readers responded to our message.

The Mushroom Council also demonstrated the power of Blendability at this year’s Produce Marketing Association’s Foodservice Conference. Chef Jehangir Mehta’s Graffiti Burger, which he menus at his restaurant, took second place in the competition, although we were clearly first in flavor.

mushroom-swissOther Chain Mushroom Specials: Mushrooms are prominently featured on a number of chain menus in big ways this summer. Burger King, as the fourth largest chain in the nation, will clearly drive significant usage as they re-introduced their Mushroom and Swiss BIG KING with two savory fire-grilled beef patties, Swiss cheese and featuring savory sautéed mushrooms on a sesame seed bun.

longhorn-steakhouseOne of the most interesting uses of mushrooms this summer is by Longhorn Steak House which is featuring a Manhatten Stuffed Filet in its Steaks Across America promotion. Billed as “Big City” taste, the filet is topped with a cheese-stuffed mushroom as well as bernaise sauce.

To Come: The Council continues to be active on a number of fronts, including a pilot with supermarket foodservice. We will be speaking to a group of college foodservice operators on blendability, a promotion is set with Penn State University and we are working on a number of other promotions, events and LTOs that will be launched this fall.

 

SCHOOL NUTRITION  SUMMARY

  • 2014-ANCMushroom Council exhibited at the School Nutrition Association’s Annual National Conference in Boston in July. The council served fresh mushroom blended breakfast sausage, blended meatballs and a portabella cheesesteak. Council members will meet with influencers, processors and foodservice directors. Three processors sampled various mushroom blended products to attendees including tacos, burgers, marinara and meatballs. Mushrooms were featured as commodity food available to all attendees.
  • Council representatives attended the school nutrition state shows in Pennsylvania in July. Attendees enjoyed mushroom blended tacos and a display of local PA mushrooms. Mushroom shippers are encouraged to participate in their local state shows. For more information visit mushroomcouncil.org/school-nutrition
  • The USDA has invited the Mushroom Council to participate in a mushroom blended product showcase in September. The meeting will promote the success of the mushrooms in schools program while highlighting vendors participating in the program and the various mushroom blended products available. The meeting will also forward the process of sending mushrooms directly to school kitchens to use in speed scratch applications.
  • Council school nutrition chef held a training session in Denver, CO to add several scratch mushroom blended products to the Greely Public Schools menu. Planning has started for a mushroom blend promotion with Savannah Public Schools.
  • Council School Nutrition resources can be found here.

 

RETAIL SUMMARY

Retail-Data-06-15-2014

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The Topline report week ending 06/15/14 was sent to the industry on 7/28/14; click here to access the report online.

Topline Retail Report – Highlights – (4 and 52 Weeks Ending 6/15/2014)

Spotlight – Notable and Newsworthy

  • Mushroom category growth is back, posting a +2.8% growth rate for the current 4-week period, after falling flat during the previous 4-week period
  • After posting a brief decline in the previous report, white mushrooms are growing again and were up +1.1% for the current 4-week period. For more information on these trends, please see below

Total Mushrooms – 4 Weeks

  • The Total U.S. dollar sales trend of +2.8% lagged Total Produce’s growth of +3.2% by -0.4 point
  • South Central led in dollar growth rate at +7.6%, followed by Northeast at +4.8%
  • On a Market basis, Albany posted strong dollar growth at +15.3%. Milwaukee posted the largest decline, down -5.3%
  • Volume in pounds for the Total U.S. increased +1.8%. Midsouth led the Regions with a volume increase of +6.3%. Plains declined -3.6%
  • At the Market level, Philadelphia showed the largest increase in volume at +18.1%

Segment/Variety – 4 Weeks

  • Total U.S. dollar sales of the White segment increased +1.1%, and Brown mushrooms exhibited growth of +5.1%
  • Cremini mushrooms declined -1.0%, while Portabellas experienced dollar growth of 17.2%
  • On a Regional basis, White mushrooms growth rates varied from up +6.5% in South Central to down -3.7% in Plains
  • Brown mushrooms fared better with growth in six of eight regions. California dollars declined -5.5%, while dollars in Plains grew +12.1%
  • White segment dollars were down in 18 of 50 Markets with results ranging from growth of +15.9% in Albany to a decline of -10.5% in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In the Brown segment, 39 of 50 Markets posted strong gains, including Omaha (+18.5%), Albany (16.4%) and Denver (+16.4%)
  • Total U.S. volume in pounds for the White segment was flat, while the Brown segment saw overall volume growth of +6.6%, driven by Portabella mushrooms up +26.0%
  • In the Brown segment, Midsouth led Regional volume growth at +15.8%. California and Southeast declined -6.5%

Total Mushrooms – 52 Weeks

  • The Total U.S. dollar sales trend of +3.0% lagged Total Produce’s growth trend of +5.7% by -2.7 points
  • Plains (7.0% dollar share) and West (13.0% dollar share) led the Regions with the top dollar sales trend of +4.9%. Northeast holds the largest dollar share (20.7%), but grew only +1.3%. All Regions posted gains
  • Most Markets experienced dollar growth, notably Omaha (+10.3%), Kansas City (+9.9%) and Chicago (+9.4%)
  • Total U.S. mushroom volume in pounds grew +2.6%
  • Six of eight Regions delivered volume growth, led by Northeast at +4.2%. California and South Central were flat
  • Only eight of 50 Markets saw downward volume trends, including Sacramento and Toledo, down -3.6% and -3.3%, respectively

Segment/Variety – 52 Weeks

  • Total U.S. dollar sales for the White segment were flat, with California (+3.1%) posting the only gain. In the Brown segment, dollar sales were up +7.9% in Total U.S.
  • In the Brown segment, seven Regions posted positive trends, of which four Regions were in the double-digits
    • Total U.S. Brown segment dollar trends were driven by Portabella mushrooms, which hold a 31.7% dollar share of Browns and delivered sales growth of +24.1%
  • At the Market level, dollar sales trends in the White segment ranged from an increase of +8.2% in Sacramento to a -6.0% decline in Toledo
  • The Brown segment saw very strong dollar sales gains across 44 of 50 Markets, with Denver leading at +30.6%. Sacramento showed the largest decline of -13.3%
  • Total U.S. volume in pounds of White mushrooms was flat, but growth was seen in Northeast (+2.9%)
  • Total U.S. volume in pounds of Brown mushrooms grew +8.6%, led by South Central with growth of +15.7%
    • Total U.S. Brown segment volume growth trends were driven by Portabella mushrooms which have a 29.6% volume share of Browns and delivered volume growth of +29.8%
  • As with dollars, the Market level volume trends for the White segment were mixed, with 18 Markets trending upward including Chicago (+8.0%) and Omaha (+6.7%)
  • The volume trend of Brown mushrooms fared better, with only four Markets trending downward. Sacramento (-16.7%) and San Francisco (-6.7%) posted the largest losses
    • Strong volume growth in the Brown segment occurred in these Markets: Louisville (+25.8%), Omaha (+24.5%) and Kansas City (+22.6%)

Industry Tools
The Swap it Or Top It retail display contest ended July, 15th. The Council received approximately 50 submissions. Winners will be notified in August.

Trade Media
Mushrooms Popular Summer Fare – The Packer
Council Has Full Calendar – The Packer
Produce Industry Supports City of Hope – The Packer
Mushroom Meatballs Served at Hearing on School Nutrition – The Packer
Companies customize get creative to get items on menus – The Packer
Mushroom Industry helps to feed school kids in healthy nutritious ways – The Produce News
Mushroom Council continues strong promotion mushroom consumption swelling – The Produce News

Market Insights Retail Sales Tool:
If you are interested in signing up for the Market Insights Retail Sales Tool contact Cheryl to register.

Blue Print for Profit:
An updated Blueprint for Profit is available here

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