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ents such as selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin and dietary fiber.
“Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, making it an essential nutrient for bone health, both for growth and maintenance,” he says. “Insufficient levels can lead to rickets in chil- dren and osteoporosis in adults.”
He explains the company exposes its crop to UV-B light for a very short period to assist the mushrooms into producing very precise levels of vitamin D in a completely natural way.
“While many retailers are already promoting the health attributes of fresh mushrooms, there is plenty of room to rein- force that message,” adds Bill Litvin, vice pres- ident of sales at Giorgio Fresh Co. in Temple, PA. “Promoting the health and convenience messaging through POS [point of sale] and promotions will encourage shoppers to buy more mushrooms.”
Joe Salvo, president of Ponderosa Mush- rooms and Specialty Foods in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, notes mushrooms have high levels of protein, trace minerals and amino acids.
“It’s not usually spoken about very much, although it’s becoming more and more main- stream,” says Salvo. “In the European Union, mushrooms have been [classified] as a super- food, and it takes a while.”
FOCUS ON FLAVOR
But just as sales of certain fruits cannot grow solely based on their ‘health halo,’ mushrooms need more than just a ‘vegetari- an-friendly’ approach to fulfill their potential.
Thankfully, flavor is on their side with what the Japanese call “umami,’ a fifth taste category that accompanies the four more commonly known primary tastes: salty, sweet, bitter and sour.
“Mushrooms happen to be one of those lucky foods that take on a broth-like or meaty flavor,” says O’Brien. “The taste also comes in handy for preparing healthy dishes. If you’re looking to keep off the pounds, adding mush- rooms to your diet could help.”
Mushroom burgers, soups, stir-fry dishes, pastas and kebabs are common meals for fungi fans, but the possibilities go much further. Taking a leaf out of the jackfruit-based, meat-imitation phenomenon, To-Jo mush- rooms launched its ‘Pulled Port’ product in foodservice in October and is busy introducing it at retail.
“We created a product called Pulled Port, which is Portabellas that have been pulled apart and has a very similar look and texture to pulled pork,” says Delaney. “I think there’s an opportunity for us to introduce new value-
added creative items in mushrooms.”
“We’ve also seen mushroom bacon and
mushroom jerky come out recently,” he adds. Delaney points to good feedback from To-Jo’s Kitchen Live series on social media showing the public how to prepare mush-
rooms in interesting ways.
“For example you can slice a King Oyster
mushroom, sauté it, and it almost comes out like a scallop,” he says. “If we can introduce that concept to people, we could create more lift on a specialty item like that.”
Kevin Donovan, national sales manager at Phillips Mushroom Farms in Kennett Square, PA, says the most innovative retailers are those who cultivate customers to use mushrooms in recipes they create, leading to increased sales.
TURN! TURN! TURN!
Suppliers’ views on missed merchandising opportunities vary, whether it be upsizing, greater variety, cross-merchandising or capi- talizing on the “trend to blend” with meat.
One common thread, however, is that
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