 |
Marketing report available shortly
Australian households are buying over 7% more mushrooms per year compared to 3 years ago; people are shopping more regularly for mushrooms now at 11.3 times per year; the annual average spend has increased to $41.40, and the average annual volume has increased to 3.6kg per capita.
This was the good news based on Neilsen Homescan
data and delivered by Hort Innovation Marketing Manager, Samantha Ferguson, to the Australian mushroom industry at the recent conference in Sydney.
A full report on this presentation
is included i
n the next edition of the Australian Mushrooms Journal, which is due out shortly.
|
Stay up to date with the Mushroom Fund Annual Report
A gentle reminder that Hort Innovation has released the Mushroom Fund Annual Report. The report covers key levy investment and project information and can
be downloaded
from the Hort Innovation Fund Annual Report Portal.
Hort Innovation AGM elects new Board members
The Hort Innovation Annual General Meeting was held in Brisbane on Friday 23 November. Three board directors were elected - Ms Julie Bird, Ms Susan Finger and Mr Stephen Lynch. The previous chair, Mr Selwyn Snell was reappointed to serve another term, and Dr Mary Corbett will serve as the new deputy chair. Further details on the AGM are available
HERE.
A series of four resolutions were put to the meeting. A notification of the outcomes is available
HERE.
Strategic Investment Advisory Panel
The last SIAP was held on 7-8 November. A summary of the meeting will be available shortly from the
Hort Innovation website
.
To stay up to date with SIAP activities, please use this
LINK
to view a full list of meeting summaries. If you have any questions related to the operations of the SIAP please contact Hort Innovation Industry Relationship Manager, John Vatikiotis - 0429 022 637 or
via email
.
|
A snapshot of mushroom news
Mushrooms in the News is a quick snapshot of news relevant to mushrooms. It could be a great recipe, a healthy reference, some research findings or some mushroom industry coverage. When we find it we will post it to the site and include it in the Monthly Update. If you have any comments or find anything that has been missed, please email and let us know.
Latest healthy burger recipes - When it comes to mushroom
recipes,
there are plenty of ways to deliver them to consumers,
but
one effective way is to engage with high profile social media influencers who love their mushrooms. This recipe collection is from Leah Itsines, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook. She tells her followers that "Mushrooms are my favourite addition to any meal and are super good for your health - they're
absolutely
packed full of nutritious vitamins and minerals!!" Little wonder that mushrooms make meals much healthier in seconds.
This bionic mushroom can make electricity -
If you thought solar panels were high tech, then think again.
Researchers are now eyeing mushrooms to generate electricity. Researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey have produced bio-electricity by fitting mushrooms with a network of electrodes and special bacteria. The research integrated the cyanobacteria with a mushroom in a way that the cyanobacteria are able to make energy by photosynthesis while the mushroom provides shelter, moisture and nutrients. According to the researchers, shining a light on the mushroom activated photosynthesis, generating a current of about 65 nanoAmps. Research is now underway to look at ways of generating usable currents through this process.
Airline Launches Vegan Meals With Mushroom Meat to Over 4,000 Flights -
A two-week trial by Scandinavian Airlines - known as SAS - of a new vegan dish featuring "mushroom meat", could pave the way for more mushroom meals on international flights. More than two tons of
Swedish organic
mushrooms, including champignon, portobello, and oyster, are being used to make the vegan in-flight meal during the trial period. The dish features thyme-roasted mushrooms served with a lentil and
beet-flavoured
wheat berry salad tossed with Öland black beans, golden beetroot, and hummus with parsley vinaigrette and vinegar-roasted buckwheat.
The United
Kingdom-based vegan meat brand Hooba Foods are tapping into consumer sentiment that suggests 44 percent of people in the UK have expressed an interest in eating less meat. The company claims its sustainable, vegan meat closely resembles the taste and texture of "the real thing." Its range of meatless sausages, burgers, and meatballs are made from a blend of mushrooms, rusk, oats, and other ingredients to create an authentic meaty flavour. While the products are not yet available in major supermarkets, chains such as Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, and Asda are all reporting strong consumer interest in vegan and vegetarian food sales.
Sainsbury's is selling unique 'super mushrooms' with some very different health benefits -
One of the United Kingdom's largest supermarkets - Sainsbury's - have launched the first mushrooms on the market to be fortified with both Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. The mushrooms are ideal for vegans with the suggestion that they may now be able to get their daily dosage of B12 through mushrooms instead of supplements. The
newly
fortified mushrooms come in two forms: Closed Cup White (300g) or Chestnut (250g), and a third of a pack of each will be enough to get 60% of your daily required vitamin D intake and 100% of your B12, making them perfect for those who would otherwise suffer from deficiencies.
Indoor neon-lit mushroom farms are New York's hottest new food trend -
Plug-in fungi
farms are
mushrooming in New York City, providing diners with a unique experience, and allowing chefs immediate access to a range of fresh produce. Smallhold, the company that created the idea, grows around 100 pounds of various mushroom types a week, then distributes them three-quarters grown to climate-controlled, do-it-yourself mini "farms" around the city. A remote technician adjusts humidity, airflow and temperature, providing a process that they claim is more sustainable than traditional mushroom farms, using about 96% less water, creating 40 times the output per square foot and less food waste.
Year of the Mushroom? Close, but not yet -
The collective creativity and innovation in the United States mushroom industry
have
never been more impressive according to Giorgio Fresh president, Joe Caldwell. On the back of consistent growth, a range of new and innovative products and packaging have now gone to market during 2018. The article cites a range of new products including Giorgio's lines of stuffed mushrooms,
Blendabella
, and Savory Wild Portabella Jerky; Monterey's Let's Blend rollout; Highline's top seal packaging and blend product; Southmill/Champ's dried mushroom chips and nutrition bars; Country Fresh's Mealtime Mix'n mushrooms; Gourmet's Finest Crumbles, and To-Jo Mushrooms' Pulled Port.
The Mushroom Diet to Lose Weight -
Ok. So it's not the latest celebrity diet, but the fact that it is
being picked
up
again
is good for mushroom enthusiasts everywhere. The article says that according to countless fashion and gossip magazines, this is the diet celebrities like Katy Perry and Kelly Osbourne are using to lose weight in 14 days. The M-Plan diet replaces one meal each day with a
mushroom-based
meal that involves roasting, steaming or sauteing the mushrooms using as little fat as possible.
|
Copyright © Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited 2018
|
|
|
|
|
|
