SUSTAINABLE EUROPEAN MUSHROOMS

After successfully completing the three year Mushrooms Complement Everything campaign in January, a fresh application to carry out another three years of mushroom EU co-sponsored promotion was made in May. If successful, the three year ‘Mix it up with sustainable mushrooms from Europe’ will have a €1,000,000 budget annually for 2022 to 2024 to promote mushrooms in the UK. It is an information and advertising campaign targeting consumers in the UK. Sustainability is an important issue for consumers, and the campaign will highlight the sustainable credentials of Irish and European mushrooms. They will help to further establish EU products as world leaders in sustainable food production, quality and traceability.

Analysis of UK consumers shows that women 25-45 are the most important sector to target because their mushroom consumption is lower than older age groups and they also have a high interest in sustainability. The overall objective is to increase the cumulative sales of mushrooms in the UK by 14,200 tonnes over the three years of the campaign. The campaign sets specific targets for increases in penetration and frequency of purchase in the target age group. The activities selected to achieve this increase are digital advertising, public relations and social media, and website and search engine optimisation. The outcome of the application will be made known in October. ✽