Mushroom Council^® Launches First-Ever “Mix It Up With Mushrooms” Contest in Collaboration With Allrecipes

Right Promotion for Right Moment, Notes Retail Analyst

May 30, 2023 – The Mushroom Council® this month kicks off its first-ever “Mix It Up With Mushrooms” contest in collaboration with Allrecipes, the world’s largest food media brand, for a 2023 multimedia campaign encouraging grocery shoppers to buy more mushrooms to blend into classic ground meat or meat alternative recipes for more nutritious, delicious sustainable dishes.

The first-ever Mix It Up With Mushrooms contest will feature five original main-dish recipes created by five different Allrecipes Allstars home cooks, all vying to be selected by the voting public as the best. Allrecipes Allstars is a community of home cooks who create and share their beloved family recipes and expertise to help the vast Allrecipes audience of consumers make delicious meals. Each recipe created for the contest will spotlight The Blend, ^™the umami-rich combo of finely chopped mushrooms and ground meat. This year’s contest marks a departure from the Mushroom Council’s traditional burger contest and will expand its offering with blended recipes ranging from tacos to pasta sauces and more.

Now through July 14, consumers can vote for their favorite mushroom + meat recipes created by the five Allrecipes Allstars and featured on Allrecipes’ “Mix It Up with Mushrooms” contest landing page link here. Users who vote will be entered for a chance to win $1,000, while the Allrecipes Allstar whose recipe earns the most votes will receive $5,000. See full contest rules here. Winners to be announced later this summer and into early fall.

This year's collaboration with Allrecipes is part of a long-standing tradition for the Mushroom Council to devote the spring and summer months to promoting The Blend with a major organization or media outlet. Throughout the campaign, the Mushroom Council will share blended inspiration via recipes and social media videos, showcasing how mushrooms add flavor, veggies and an earth-friendly ingredient to your meat dish.

Past partners have included the James Beard Foundation, Bon Appetit magazine and Food Network, reaching new potential mushroom consumers each year. A decade into these Blend promotions, the Mushroom Council’s collaboration with Allrecipes is a natural extension of its long-term goal to reach more mainstream grocery shoppers.

Right Promotion for the Right Moment

“This campaign seems like a slam dunk to me as it solves a big need for inflationary-minded shoppers who still want great tasting and nutritious meals,” said Anne-Marie Roerink, retail analyst and leader of 210 Analytics, LLC. “Inflation is real and taking a substantial bite out of most people’s paychecks, which means a lot more people are seeking ways to stretch their food dollars. But, at the same time, my research shows it isn’t all about saving money. A good deal at the grocery store may get you to buy an item once, but it has to taste good to buy something again. And that’s why The Blend is so timely. It addresses affordability by helping stretch the meat dollar, tastes great and raises the nutritional profile.”

MushroomCouncil.com will provide inspiration for blending and a call to action with online ads to participate in Mix It Up With Mushrooms on the Allrecipes.com contest page. Take part in this year’s blended competition by visiting the Mix It Up With Mushrooms contest page at Allrecipes.com to find, try and vote for your favorite blended recipe. Follow the Mushroom Council on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and share the posts about blending and the contest on your pages.

About the Mushroom Council:

The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers and importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. These industry self-help programs are requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. For more information, visit mushroomcouncil.com.

Contact: Eric Davis, 612-202-9407, edavis@curiousplot.agency