Joe Caldwell, vice president of Monterey Mushrooms Inc., headquartered in Watsonville, CA, told The Produce News that the company continues to focus on its new sustainable corrugated mushroom packaging.

“The sustainable package has received tremendous comments from customers and consumers since we launched it in late 2011,” said Mr. Caldwell. “It is specially designed to deal with the high humidity that mushrooms create, and we wanted a package that we could print consumer-friendly information on, such as meal solution ideas and recipes.”

The equipment required toMonterey Mushrooms’ Baby Bella and white mushrooms in the new sustainable corrugated tills produce the new package was designed and built in Europe, and it is proprietary to Monterey Mushroom. The company began distributing the carton on the West Coast of the United States when it was first launched, and today it is in demand across the country.

Mr. Caldwell explained that the company’s thought behind what to print on the carton was consumer-driven.

“People usually have three to four meals a day, and our goal in developing the carton information was to show them how easy it is to incorporate mushrooms into every one of them,” he said. “And they want quick and easy ways to prepare food, so we also took this fact into consideration.”

Monterey Mushrooms’ is also targeting consumers with its Facebook and Twitter pages, and its website is updated with interactive features.

“It’s interesting to track the number of visits we get on these sites, and we glean some great information, such as where the people are located,” he said. “But there is also a lot of consumer sharing on these sites. This new dynamic has shoppers connecting with each other looking for accreditation on products.

Monterey Mushrooms was established in 1971, and is now overseen by its second generation family-owned and operated farm. Today the company is vertically integrated and able to control all aspects of mushroom production from seed to customers and consumers. The company currently has 10 mushroom growing farms strategically located throughout North America, so they are literally “locally grown” nationwide. It currently produces approximately 250 million pounds annually from its combined facilities.

Mr. Caldwell said that brown mushrooms such as Portabella, Crimini and Baby Bella are among the fastest growing category, and he anticipates it will represent about 25 percent of the overall mushroom sales in 2012.

“Whites continue to represent the strongest category with about 75 percent of sales,” he said. “But browns are growing fast, and that category will probably reach 30 percent of sales in the next few years. Consumers are finding that they are just as versatile as whites, and they can be used in all the ways that whites can, but with a bit more intense flavor.”

Specialty mushrooms, such as Shitake, Maitake and Oyster, represent between 3 percent and 4 percent of mushroom sales today, and are growing at 10 to 15 percent annually. Shitake, Mr. Caldwell pointed out, is the top-selling specialty mushroom.

“We introduced a five-ounce sliced Shitake package about five years ago, and it continues to grow in demand,” he said.

Monterey Mushroom continues to invest heavily in its facilities and in its future growth.

“The drought in the U.S. is taking its toll on the industry this year,” said Mr. Caldwell. “One of our biggest challenges is to continue to find ways to manage costs. But we need agricultural byproducts from wheat straw, cottonseed hulls, soybean meal and other byproducts because it’s used for our growing medium.

Mr. Caldwell said that three years ago the company decided to invest heavily in staff training and development.

“This is a constant company-wide effort, and it acknowledges the value of our people,” he said. “We have new sales managers in Colorado, Chicago, Southern California and our Atlanta facility.”