April Mushroom Industry Update. Your monthly newsletter is here

Industry Update ~ Issue 37 ~ April 2019

Industry Update is a monthly e-newsletter that forms part of the

Industry Communication project. I f you think we have missed anything, or you have any feedback on the articles, we would be more than happy to hear from you.

Australian Mushrooms television concludes

The latest block of airtime for the Australian Mushrooms television campaign concluded on 20 April. The "chop chop" campaign ran on TV from 24 March and was seen in major metropolitan cities, and with the addition of northern and southern New South Wales, regional Queensland and Tasmania. (An example of the ad is available HERE .)

The Australian Mushrooms messaging will continue to reach targeted consumers through

digital media, in-store sampling and out of home advertising. The campaign timing is:

3 March - 6 July - Advertising through digital media including YouTube and Spotify;
3 March - 11 May - Out-of-home advertising including streetside bus shelters and billboard style advertising in shopping centres(Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, northern and southern New South Wales).

Easter mushrooms with Miguel

Australian Mushrooms were front and centre at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, with the promotional caravan in place for the duration of the event. The presentations by Australian Mushrooms Ambassador Miguel Maestre were a highlight, keeping attendees entertained with simple tips on how you can make mealtimes easier, and boost the health and flavour of any dish, just by adding mushrooms. To leverage the mushroom message further, the presentation was streamed live via the Australian Mushrooms Facebook page . To watch Miguel cooking up a Spanish treat, his famous Mushroom Paella a la Maestre, please click HERE .

New Australian Mushrooms consumer website is live!

The refreshed and updated Australian Mushrooms website is now live. The site has been rebuilt to give users a better experience with a new look and feel. The site has also been simplified to improve engagement and "dwell time". Australian Mushrooms is now even more mobile responsive, with improved page loading times. Check it out for yourself at www.australianmushrooms.com.au

NZ growers hear from Australian speakers

AMGA interim General Manager, Dr Geoff Martin and Hort Innovation Mushroom Marketing Manager, Samantha Ferguson were featured guest speakers at the recent New Zealand Mushroom Growers Federation conference. Geoff addressed the seven pillars of composting, while Samantha shared how Hort Innovation works with growers to make strategic marketing decisions and achieve positive results for the industry.

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Strategic Investment Advisory Panel

The next meeting of the SIAP will take place in Melbourne from 30-31 July 2019.

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 .

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Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS) training dates have now been announced for June in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The course is particularly aimed at Tier 1 and 2 growers, suppliers, packers and wholesalers to the major grocery retailers, and has been designed to reflect the immediate needs for producers to meet the HARPS requirements, using case studies and practical examples where possible. In addition, the course will include Food Safety Risk assessment and the HACCP process, which will qualify as 'HACCP Refresher Training' as stipulated under HARPS Section 5.2 (this will save needing to attend a separate HACCP Refresher course).

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.

Australians are riding the 'shroom boom' - Mushrooms are big, with the global mushroom market is tipped to reach $83 billion in the next two years, and while the "shroom boom" has taken off in the US, Australia is starting to catch on too, according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. The article covers gourmet mushrooms, the growth of medicinal mushrooms, and the use of mushrooms for leather and as biomaterials to replace Styrofoam.

$4 million investment to get kids eating 19,000 tonnes more veg a year - A new national research initiative designed to educate and encourage children to eat more vegetables aims to increase their daily intake of fresh produce by more than half a serving per day. Supported by Hort Innovation through $4 million in R&D funding, the 5-year VegKit project will deliver a free toolkit for educators, health professionals and research agencies that includes information on dietary guidelines, and evidence-based knowledge of flavour exposure and food preference.

Doctors prescribing fruits and veg could save the US $100 billion in medical costs - Researchers in the United States have found that "prescriptions" for healthy foods could save more than $100 billion in healthcare costs, preventing millions of cases of chronic diseases including diabetes, asthma, heart disease, obesity, or cancer. Subsidising the cost of 30% of fruits and vegetables was found to potentially prevent 1.93 million cardiovascular events (such as heart attacks) and 350,000 deaths, as well as cut US healthcare costs by $40 billion.

Horticulture's big businesses form Australian Fresh Produce Alliance - The formation of the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance has drawn together representatives of some of the country's major growers and suppliers in order to give fresh produce a prominent and respected voice on the important issues facing the industry. The alliance will look to achieve positive outcomes on major issues involving the growing, supply and sustainability of fresh produce for Australian consumers as well as export markets.

UK shoppers pressuring supermarkets to ditch plastic-wrapped fruit and veg -

Consumers in the United Kingdom are turning away from plastic-wrapped fruit and vegetables, with sales for "loose" items growing twice as quickly than with packaged produce. Consumer insight group Kantar said while sales of packaged produce increased by three per cent over the past three months, loose produce sales grew by six per cent in that time. The figures come at a time when supermarkets and food retailers are under pressure to cut down on plastic waste significantly.

Unique Australian technology cleaning cool room storages and improving food quality - A unique Australian-developed atmosphere management technology system able to destroy airborne contaminants and reduce the need for post-harvest chemicals is proving to be very popular throughout the horticulture sector. While most of the machines on the market are based on ozone, Airofresh is a patented highly intense oxidation module, driven by light, and combined light frequencies and specialised coatings. The company says the system destroys all moulds and bacterial infections and sterilises the rooms as well. The process is certified for organic use.

A century-old Chester County mushroom farm uses modern, eco-friendly tech, but risks abound - The oldest mushroom farm in the United States has invested $5 million to install seven acres of solar panels, making it the only solar-powered commercial mushroom farm in the country. Dating back to 1901, Marlboro Mushrooms is now a 250-acre farm. The solar move was prompted by power bills of $25,000 a month to fuel the farm's 18 mushroom grow houses. The system has reduced power bills by 80% and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 11,100 tons - roughly the equivalent of planting 2,300 acres of trees, or not driving 23 million miles.

Australian strawberry industry continues to suffer from tampering crisis - The fallout from the strawberry fruit tampering crisis continues to impact growers, with forecasts projecting around $12 million has been wiped from the farm gate value of the industry. The Queensland Minister for Agriculture Mark Furner said the loss was primarily due to the strawberry needle contamination issues in September 2018, which forced some growers to leave the industry.