The Mushroom Council set off a virtual recipe storm when it launched The Blend initiative a couple of years ago. The project calls for a portion of meat protein to be replaced with mushrooms, resulting in less fat and calories and higher nutrition and flavor.

Mushroom producers jumped on the opportunity to participate, and chefs and consumers are following suit.

Kathleen Preis, marketing coordinator for the San Jose, CA-based Mushroom Council, said The Blend continues to be central to its marketing activities.

“It has extended into all segments with activation in schools, colleges, retail chains and restaurants with the Blended Burger Project,” she said. “This is a partnership with the James Beard Foundation that runs from Memorial Day through July 31. Upon conclusion, the five chefs with the most votes in our online image-voting gallery will win a trip to New York City in October 2016 to cook their blended burger dish at the official welcome reception for the annual JBF Food Conference at the historic James Beard House.”

The council sources recipes from a variety of developers. Besides participating chefs, they come from retail dietitians, foodservice management companies, university dining and school nutrition directors.

“In April, the council activated the Blenditarian Influencer Campaign, a special blog series that focuses on creating consumer awareness about The Blend and Blenditarians,” said Preis. “Twenty popular food- and nutrition-focused bloggers were selected to bring The Blend to life in authentic recipes spotlighting mushrooms and The Blend. The posts that feature easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions include beautiful photography.”

The recipes featured in the blog are shared on the Mushroom Council website, and council member-growers can also take advantage of them in their own recipe offerings. The council’s internal marketing team also develops The Blend recipes for the website and recipe books.

Kevin Donovan, national sales manager for Phillips Mushroom Farms, based in Kennett Square, PA, told The Produce News that recipes are offered on its website are linked directly to the variety, such as Portabella, Oyster, Maitake and others.

“The majority of these recipes were provided by Jack Czarnecki, a chief promoter of mushrooms, and are taken from his Portobello Cookbook,” said Donovan. “We also recommend other mushroom cookbooks.”

He noted that some of the company’s customers have requested revolving recipe cards for their produce departments.

“We have done that,” he said. “And we offer brochures with recipes for all of the mushrooms we produce. We also point our customers toward the Mushroom Council because of the great amount of materials and recipes it offers.”

Phillips Mushroom produces a full line of white, brown and specialty mushrooms. Donovan said that The Blend has absolutely had a positive effect on mushroom sales, and it is happy to currently be completing the first phase of its third expansion at its Warwick, MD, facility.

“Our expansion in Warwick will ultimately take us from 20 to 40 growing rooms,” said Donovan. “It’s important to give a shout out to organic mushrooms. This is a category that is growing tremendously for Phillip Mushroom Farms.”

Giorgio Fresh headquartered in Temple, PA, is also riding the wave of high mushroom demand, and agrees The Blend is one of the greatest things to happen in the mushroom industry.

Mitch Arment, in-house corporate chef for Giorgio Foods, said the research and development team at Giorgio is continually involved in recipe development with a focus on product development.

“We also utilize the talents of independent chefs who consult with us on developing imaginative recipes for various food shows,” said Arment. “We select these independent chefs in the city where the shows are being held.”

Arment added that Giorgio promotes its recipes primarily at trade shows. This gets the team in front of the industry and it gets good feedback.

“This has helped us immensely as we broaden our book of recipes,” he added. “We also have a wide range of recipes on the Giorgio Foods and Giorgio Fresh websites, and we encourage visitors to submit their own recipes to us.”

He said he’s seen a jump in the company’s mushroom production and recipe development since The Blend campaign took hold.

“We are a major player in the industry and our customers look to us for new ideas and new recipes, especially when they hear about the council’s campaign,” he said. “At Giorgio, we’re big on The Blend.”

The Mushroom Council promotes its recipes on its consumer facing website, mushroominfo.com, and its industry websites, mushroomsonthemenu.com and mushroomsinschools.com.

“We also share recipes with home chefs on our various mushroom channel social media accounts, including Facebook, twitter, Instagram and Pinterest,” said Preis. “Mushroom recipes and photography are key to our media outreach.”

The council also partners with additional organizations such as the American Egg Board and the Beef Checkoff to develop and share custom recipes through each organization’s various channels.

“Many Mushroom Council recipes are included in handouts and recipe books shared directly with consumers at demos and sampling events,” added Preis.