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The Mushroom Council

Research and

Information Website

  

December 2008 Industry News

 

  

 

 

 

 

SHIPMENT SUMMARY

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

 

 

 

COUNCIL UPDATE

 

• The next Council meeting is scheduled for February 23, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas. If you are planning on attending, please let us know so that arrangements can be made.

• A new Handler Report has been approved by the OMB branch of the USDA and is now in effect. This form was mailed for the first time to all handlers for the reporting of December fresh mushroom sales. If you have any questions on the new Handler Report you can contact Cheryl at the Council office.

• Nominations are coming up in February. The USDA, as well as the Council, encourages all eligible producers including women, minorities and individuals with disabilities to participate in the nominations and seek nomination to serve on the Council.

• New postings to www.mushroomcouncil.org include:
  • State of the Industry News Brief: The Mushroom Cap-sule – 2^nd half 2008
  • July-September Quarterly Report 

 

 

MARKETING SUMMARY

 

TOTAL IMPRESSIONS/PLACEMENTS TO DATE:

 

November impressions overview:

• In November, Mushroom Council placements represented an average of 42 percent of total mushroom news, which is above the norm of 25 percent or less during a period of reactive outreach. For a full media update click here. 

• The Mushroom Council attended a scientific nutrition seminar, “Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency,” on  December 2, to better understand current vitamin D research, meet important researchers, and evaluate potential outreach and partnership opportunities in 2009. Key vitamin D speakers included Bob Heaney, MD (Creighton University) and Michael Holick, MD, PhD (Boston University School of Medicine), as well as the program provider, Carole Baggerly with GrassrootsHealth.org. These speakers, along with 14 other researchers, issued a call to action recommending that the daily intake of vitamin D for adults be revised by the government to 2000IU from the current recommendation of 200-600IU. Also, a D*action Community Project initiative was launched at the seminar “to roll out mass testing of vitamin D levels to the general public in order to wipe out the vitamin D deficiency epidemic in one year.” 

• The Seattle Post Intelligencer describes mushrooms as “not nutritional nothings,” listing mushrooms as the top source of the compound ergothioneine.  

• Mushrooms’ antioxidant properties were featured in eight placements in November, garnering more than 14 million impressions, including Prevention, HealthNewsDigest.com and Whole Life Times. 

• Coverage of Mushroom Council-funded research on the weight management of swapping mushrooms for meat was highlighted in four placements in November, accounting for more than 6 million impressions in publications such as Woman’s World and Whole Life Times.  

• Yahoo! Health online noted mushrooms’ health benefits in the article “Not nutritional nothings”. This online placement resulted in 4.5 million impressions.

• Men’s Fitness online discussed several key benefits of mushrooms, including potassium, selenium, low fat/low in calories, immunity and more in the article, “Types of mushrooms: Mushrooms 101”.

• The Mushroom Council’s $560,000 commitment to breast and prostate cancer research received additional coverage by HealthNewsDigest.com as a result of an announcement distributed by the Council.
  • Additionally, mushrooms’ health attributes were highlighted in 14 placements, generating nearly 14 million impressions in outlets such as Woman’s World, Yoga Journal, Men’s Fitness online and the Tampa Tribune.  

• In November, mushroominfo.com experienced a 25 percent decrease in web traffic from October. This could be due to online advertising tapering and media outreach was only reactive in November.

On the Foodservice front: 

• During the month of November, the Council partnered with 378 franchised Applebee’s locations across the country for a “Make Room for ‘Shrooms” promotion and server incentive contest. Wait staff who sold the most mushroom items in each store during the month of November won American Express gift cards. In addition to the server incentive contest, some stores featured table-top cards funded by Kraft Foods to further promote mushrooms with Applebee’s steaks. The Council provided the AMEX gift cards and a tip sheet for servers to help them sell in more mushrooms. The Council is currently working with Applebee’s to calculate the results, but initial reports indicate that sales of mushroom “toppers” on steaks tripled in some regions during the promotional window.

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

 

On the Retail front:

 

• The second State of the Industry report will be featured in the February issue of Mushroom News. For a sneak peak, click here.

• Below is the October report of retail pounds sold by region.

Click here for larger image

 

 

 

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.