Scrambled in omelets and sandwiched between buns, the new "superfood" is finding its way to the breakfast table and landing on lunch menus, according to a recent consumption report published by the Mushroom Council.  

A staple at the dinner table and holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, mushrooms are a leading ingredient in omelets, pizza, sandwiches and salads.

Mushrooms are naturally compatible with many dishes because of their meaty texture and flavor. Their versatility makes them an ideal ingredient, both as a main dish or additive, in many recipes. As indicated in the consumption report, over 16% of households have fresh mushrooms on hand and consider themselves to be excellent cooks and capable of creating recipes. Moreover, about 10% of the population will eat fresh mushrooms at least once during a two-week period. Mushrooms are consumed during 1.3 billion occasions each year, providing ample opportunity for your store to capitalize on mushroom's popularity. 

Recommendations

To help drive sales, use promotions such as: Mushroom Mondays, Best Food Day ads, in-store magazines, and point of sale materials. Research indicates that nearly 43% of grocery purchases are sold on promotion, and a shopping basket containing mushrooms is more than double the basket ring without mushrooms. Remind customers that mushrooms go well with many types of foods by cross promoting items.

Offer secondary displays of fresh mushrooms near complementary food items to help lift sales. Examples include placing mushrooms near bagged salads or placing signage in the dairy section near the eggs to generate awareness of mushrooms as an ingredient to use in omelets. In-store recipe cards and cooking demonstrations are also great ways to reinforce the messaging.  

For breakfast and lunch recipes, Click here.

The recently published Holiday Report released by the Mushroom Council is filled with interesting holiday sales information designed to help you grow your business on a national and/or regional level. Below are some important data insights from the report. To read the complete report, talk with your supplier.    

• Overall, the Mushroom category enjoyed a steady stream of sales week over week with weekly dollar and volume indices between 90 and 110 for the majority of the year.  
• Key holidays/events across all regions are Thanksgiving and Christmas which showed significantly higher dollar and volume movement versus the other weeks of the year. 
• Mushrooms total annual dollar and volume contributions outpaced Fruit contributions for the key holidays/events.   
• Mushrooms tended to follow the Vegetable trend more closely during the summer time frame.  
• Mushrooms generate a high per pound price and great value at retail.   

Considerations for Planning Promotions 

As you plan the end of 2012 and head into 2013, be sure to drive sales for key holidays and plan ahead for Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is naturally strong during this time of year. Talk to your suppliers early to make sure they will have enough stock to meet the demand. 

Utilize in-store promotions, Best Food Day ads with recipes and images as well as merchandising materials to drive category awareness. As you plan for 2013, remember the

key holidays including:

• Easter
• Mother's Day
• Memorial Day weekend
• Father's Day
• 4th of July
• Labor Day