To-Jo Mushrooms recently participated in a joint education session at the annual Research Chefs Associations Conference held in Portland, OR. To-Jo — along with the Southwest Minnesota State University Culinology Department, the Mushroom Council and Iron Chef Jehangir Mehta — gave an in-depth review as to the progress the mushroom industry is making on the “Blendability” concept and its applications across various foodservice and manufacturing platforms.

The attendees were treated to a variety of “Blended” mushroom culinary delights from Chef Mehta and the culinology students from SWMSU.  Iron Chef Jehangir Mehta — as well as To-Jo Mushrooms, the Mushroom Council and the Southwest Minnesota State University Culinology Department — participated in a joint education session at the annual Research Chefs Associations Conference in Portland, OR. The items showcased how mushrooms can be used as an ingredient to extend proteins, reduce calories, increase moisture and boost the nutritional value of many favorite dishes.

The Mushroom Council, along with grower-shippers like To-Jo, have been marketing “Blended” product innovations to manufacturers for well over a year now.  

Mushrooms, now considered a Super food, have been widely accepted as a binding agent in many commercially available products for the foodservice Industry and are being used as an ingredient in burgers, meatballs, tacos, turkey sausage and other foods. The group also shared recent Culinary Institute of America Sensory Panel results highlighting the success of blended mushroom items as compared to traditional menu items.

“We couldn’t be happier to partner with Iron Chef Mehta and the Industry on this engaging session," Anthony D’Amico, To-Jo’s president, said in a press release. "Showcasing this concept to the top research chefs and product developers in the U.S. will only increase the ideation opportunities for mushrooms in menu development and manufacturing applications for both our foodservice and retail customers.”

To-Jo Mushrooms is a fourth generation grower-shipper of fresh and prepared mushrooms for both the foodservice and retail industries. To-Jo grows more than 40 million pounds of white, brown and specialty mushrooms annually, and the company distributes its full line of fresh mushroom products to more than 22 states by its company-owned fleet of vehicles. To-Jo’s value-added lines of processed products are distributed nationally through a wide network of distribution partners.

The Mushroom Council is composed of fresh market producers or importers that average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research & 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.