The Mushroom Council launches Blenditarian.com, shares inspiration for The Blend

April 3, 2017

The Mushroom Council has launched Blenditarian.com, an online hub that captures the growing popularity in restaurants, cafeterias and kitchens for The Blend — the practice of blending finely chopped mushrooms with meat for burgers and other dishes that are more nutritious, delicious and sustainable. blend

“Over the past year, The Blend has transformed from a trend into a movement, with excitement spreading from chef to chef, school to school and consumer to consumer,” Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council, said in a press release. “Every movement deserves a name and a home. We consider a ‘blenditarian’ a person who wants to a do better, whether it’s making better choices for their health, for the planet or for the enjoyment of food. We’re excited to introduce Blenditarian.com for people to not only join a likeminded community, but also share and define what it means to be a blenditarian.”

The Blend is connecting with a range of audiences nationwide. A concept developed with the support of the Culinary Institute of America, The Blend has to-date been menued by hundreds of universities and K-12 school districts nationwide. Since 2015, the James Beard Foundation has conducted the annual, summer-long Blended Burger Project competition featuring more than 500 restaurants menuing their take on The Blend; consumers voted more than 2 million times for their favorites.

Media outlets such as NBC’s the “Today” show and the Wall Street Journal spotlighted The Blend in recent months. And, a recent survey conducted for The Mushroom Council finds that 98 percent of all consumers who have tried a mushroom-meat blended dish plan to enjoy it again.

Blenditarian.com seeks to unify The Blend’s audiences with recipes, nutrition facts and sustainability information for people who want to do better through The Blend. It also features opportunities for blenditarians to share their own stories and images illustrating why they have adopted The Blend. Among the site’s many features that will inspire food professionals and consumers to become blenditarians:

A Pledge to Do Better: On the home page, users will be encouraged to join the movement and pledge to do better by becoming a blenditarian. In return, they will receive an exclusive digital recipe book download, which features a variety of mouthwatering blended burger recipes from award-winning chefs.
Interactive Blenditarian Map: Users can see everyone who has taken the pledge on a living map, and can toggle between the different types of blenditarians — people, restaurants and Blended Burger Project participants.
Blend Buzz: Blenditarians can stay up-to-date on news, events and recipes — as well as share their personal experiences with The Blend — with this real-time, user-generated social media feed that follows the hashtags #Blenditarian, #BlendedBurgerProject and #BlendedBurger.
The Blend Blog: A hub for conversations, stories and questions around how and why various consumers and industries are adopting The Blend. Users can toggle between categories most applicable to their interests, including chefs and restaurants, community, chains, sustainability, universities and colleges, schools, and flavor and health.
Recipes: Delectable recipes for blended burgers, meatloaves, tacos and more blended dishes can be found — providing inspiration for new and seasoned blenditarians alike.
Tutorials: Videos sharing how to make The Blend, as well as answering “What is The Blend?”
Blended Burger Project: Here, users can learn more about The Blended Burger Project — a movement in partnership with the James Beard Foundation that encourages restaurants to put a unique spin on the blended burger and feature it on their menus between Memorial Day and July 31.