MushroomLink Bulletin February 2024 - FY25 Marketing strategy webinar recording
In this edition:
Launch of the 2022/23 Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook
Webinar: Catch up on last week's webinar with Monique Emmi
Feature article: It’s not easy being green. New advances in Trichoderma research
Audio article: Phorid ecology and management
Dr Agaricus: What is foaming disease?
MushroomLink 2024 publication schedule
MushroomLink Bulletin January 2024 - Marketing webinar
In this edition:
Marketing webinar: REGISTRATIONS OPEN
New developments from the mushroom SIAP
Feature article: Growing mushrooms with AI assistance
Listen: NEW: Audio article - Chemical storage
NEW resource: Taking your mushrooms' temperature
Research from around the world: New biofilm that improves postharvest quality
ISMS conference with side symposium
MushroomLink bulletin December 2023 - New Magazine!
In this edition:
New magazine: Our summer issue is here
Feature article: Best practice in mushroom supply chains
Marketing update: Webinars past and future
Podcast: Just dropped - Introducing the MUSHRoom
MushroomLink 2024 publication schedule
ISMS conference with side symposium
MushroomLink Bulletin November 2023
In this edition:
Marketing webinar: Registrations open for the first MushroomLink marketing webinar
Marketing campaign: Miguel Maestre on the radio waves
Feature article: Bringing mushrooms to centre stage in the Australian Dietary Guidelines
Watch and listen: What makes mushrooms so special? Revisit our podcast and webinar with nutritionist and scientist Dr Flavia Fayet-Moore and Dr Damien Belobrajdic
Factsheet: Mushroom nutrition and health messages
Case study: Monaghan Mushrooms
Research from around the world: Mushroom mathematics
MushroomLink Bulletin October 2023
In this edition:
Magazine: Spring issue out now
Feature article: Changing how we look at mushrooms
Doctor Agaricus: Ventilation within the compost matrix
MLMRU update
Research from around the world
Upcoming webinar – registrations open
Food safety free testing wrapping up
Marketing update
Mushroom fund annual report
MushroomLink Bulletin September 2023
In this edition:
Feature: Can mushrooms really help lower our cholesterol?
Event wrap: Mushroom production workshop
Mushroom Fund Annual Investment Plans 2023/24
Podcast: Global perspectives from Erik de Groot
Podcast: Geoff Price and the American mushroom industry - part two
Resource: MU16003 Fact sheet: Internal Stipe Necrosis
Upcoming webinar
Shape the future of the mushroom industry - EOIs
Horticulture women leadership courses, scholarships open
Project MU22010 – Mushroom International Study Tours – Inbound and Outbound
Part of the in- and outbound International Study Tours project, the inaugural Mushroom Production workshop, facilitated by Erik de Groot, was held in Adelaide and Sydney at the end of August
Figure 1: Robert Tolson at Premier Mushrooms explaining the room-filling procedure and machinery on his farm (Umberto Calvo)
US-based international consultant and mushroom expert Erik de Groot delivered the 2-day workshops to industry members eager to learn.
Elbows deep in compost and mushrooms since his childhood in the Netherlands, Erik’s knowledge and experience range from compost production to harvesting and everything in between, with clients spread across five continents.
With the aim to educate and inspire the Australian mushroom industry and promote collaborative problem solving, attendees were asked to work together in small groups. Participants were split into these groups depending on their role (compost production, growing, harvesting) to encourage conversation within their areas of expertise and generate new ideas and solutions to current issues.
The first day of the workshop focussed on compost production, phase II and III compost, tunnel and growing room filling, and the optimal conditions of the various stages (temperature, humidity, ventilation). The attendees involved in compost production were the most active throughout the first day, while growers and harvest managers were able to better understand the dynamics of the phases that precede their entry into the crop cycle.
Figure 2: Attendees were invited to "have a feel" of good quality peat with adequate moisture (Umberto Calvo)
Day 1 also included a farm visit to Costa Monarto in South Australia and Premier Mushrooms in the Hawkesbury, with the farm staff showing the facilities, machinery, and explaining the various steps of their mushroom production and management.
The second day was centred on growing and harvesting practises to optimise yield and quality, with a particular focus on harvest efficiency and planning.
At the end of the session each group had to elaborate on the actions they were planning on taking back to their farm with the newly acquired knowledge from the workshop.
The event was very well received by all attendees, both thanks to the broad scope of themes and the opportunity to expand their network vertically with people from their own farm and peers across different farms.
The opportunity to network with colleagues from different parts of one’s own workplace was viewed as an important outcome. Communication and collaboration throughout every step of the process, from compost production to growing and harvesting, can have a big impact on the overall result, and ultimately determine the farm’s and farmer’s bottom line.
At the end of the two-day workshop the participants were asked to complete an evaluation and suggestion form, which will assist AMGA as it plans the next events. Attention will be placed on the topics and issues identified by the Australian mushroom industry as the most relevant right now.
Additional resources
MushroomLink Bulletin August 2023
In this edition:
Feature: The future of mushroom packaging
Feature: A lifecycle analysis for the mushroom industry
Webinar: A scoping study to review fungi-based global innovations
Podcast: Geoff Price and the American mushroom industry - part one
Resource: Mushroom Virus X Syndrome
Event: November webinar - save the date
MushroomLink Bulletin July 2023
In this edition:
Feature: Making a vitamin D claim.
Feature & webinar: Spent mushroom substrate
Feature: Improving the food industry menu with mushrooms
Podcast: Going Dutch - New mushroom technology from the Netherlands
Resource: Troll doll fact sheet
Event: November webinar - save the date
MushroomLink Bulletin June 2023
In this edition:
Winter magazine out now
Feature: Phorid ecology and management
Food safety FAQ’s
Podcast – Revisit our podcast on risk management
Marketing: Mushroom meat tray
MushroomLink Bulletin May 2023
In this edition
Free service: Order your free Smart Mushroom testing kit now
Feature: Bacteriophages in compost – friend or foe
Feature: Sustainable pest and disease management
Podcast: Catchup with the team behind Mycionics
Webinar: Recycling SMS for fertiliser in a circular economy
MushroomLink on the road: Visit us at Hort Connections
MushroomLink Bulletin April 2023
In this edition:
Feature: Breeding a better mushroom
Webinar: MU21006 - Recycling SMS for fertiliser in a circular economy
New Project: Mushroom supply chain
What’s new at the MLMRU
Mushroom Link resources – new fact sheet Nitrogen in compost
MushroomLink Bulletin March 2023
In this edition
Autumn 2023 magazine out now
Feature: Horticulture meets robotics meets AI
Interview: Geoff Price from Giorgi Mushrooms
Podcast: CSIRO researcher Dr Damien Belobrajdic and nutritionist Dr Falvia Fayet-Moore (NRAUS) discuss the narrative around mushroom nutrition
Marketing update: 70,000 shoppers engaged with the in-store sampling program
Mushroom Link resources
Mushroom Bulletin February 2023
In this edition:
Mushroom farming in Ukraine
Developments in mushroom harvesting
Presentation – Gordon Rogers on the MLMRU and PCR Disease Testing
Podcast – Jack Lemmen in new developments in harvesting
MushroomLink resources
MushroomLink Bulletin January 2023
In this edition
Alternative casings and a sustainable mushroom industry
The Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Centre
Webinar – Food safety certification: watch the recording
Podcast – Ralph Noble comments on the future of the industry
Smart Mushroom in the news
In case you missed it
MushroomLink Bulletin December 2022
In this edition:
MushroomLink summer issue out now
Safe mushroom certification
Introduction to food safety for mushroom farm workers
Dr Jenny Ekman at the AMGA conference
New factsheet – safe chemical storage
Upcoming webinar - Food safely certification FAQs with Clare Hamilton-Bate
Mushroom Bulletin November 2022
In this edition:
MushroomLink Summer edition out soon
Feeding mushrooms – the ins and outs of nitrogen in mushroom compost
What's new in mushroom compost biology? - Dr Michael Kertesz
Roland van Doremaele - Efficient harvesting systems part one
MushroomLink Survey
Hort Innovation Mushroom Fund annual report
AGORA
Mushroom in store sampling
Hort Innovation Annual Fund report 2021/2022
What happened in the Mushroom Fund last year?
The 2021/2022 annual report for the Mushroom levy funds is out now.
The report covers what has been delivered this year, how the R&D levy has been invested over the year and how the fund is being managed.
A list of minor use permits for the potato industry, current as of the 15th of August 2022, is also provided.
MushroomLink Bulletin October 2022
In this edition:
Fact sheet: Mushroom nutrition and health messages
Coming soon: AMGA conference podcasts and videos
September marketing snapshot
Collaborative Marketing Workshop with the Mushroom Industry
Hort Innovation Mushroom Fund annual report
Poultry litter – more than just a nitrogen source
Mushroom Production Waste Streams - Novel Approaches to Management and Value Creation
Pest and disease news alert
Collaborative Marketing Workshop with the Mushroom Industry
By Emma Day, Marketing Manager HIA
Hort Innovation’s commitment to working more closely with the mushroom industry in matters relating to marketing came to realisation in early September, with the first co-design workshop. Earlier in the year the AMGA were invited to identify three to four industry representatives to be a part of the co-design panel.
The outcomes of the workshop will inform the development of evidence-based marketing strategies for 23-26, and an annual marketing investment plan for F23, ensuring that these plans are built on robust analysis, contain actions that clearly link to demand creation and facilitate transparent measurement and evaluation of actions and impact.
The workshops took place in Sydney, with representatives from the Mushroom Industry joining HIA Marketing, Data and Insights, and Industry Strategic Partnership personnel for two busy and productive days to jointly develop the marketing plans. The workshops were run by Jane Smith and Kylie Hudson, General Managers Marketing, with presentations from many of the HIA Mushroom team.
The Mushroom Industry was represented by Leah Bramich, GM AMGA, Kyle Davies, Marland Mushrooms, Georgia Beattie, Bulla Park, Tim Archibald, White Prince, with apologies from Elisa Siliato from Costa.
Day One focused on a big data download and share. Presentations were given on the broader market context of consumer’s lives, industry feedback on important issues, the retail and trading environment in which we all operate, the consumer and shopper, needs and occasions, and a FY22 activity evaluation. As a group we then prioritised our learnings and implications and agreed on the focus for our plan and who we should target.
Day Two we regrouped and then defined the big shifts required from consumers to grow the Mushroom category and set our vision and goals according to what our category would stand for in the minds of consumers. With clear objectives, we could define the key strategic pillars which will underpin the activities arising from this marketing plan.
A brainstorming session resulted in a detailed one-year plan, as well as a more future-looking horizon plan. This was followed by the business of budgeting and how we might allocate the marketing funds for year one.
With all this valuable input, the HIA marketing team will now create the detail of the plan around our agreed vision, goals, and strategic pillars. The plan will be presented to the SIAP on 20 September for approval.
In the meantime, the first part of the plan details the 12 key facts gained from the data download on day one. These insights are the key pieces of data that drove our decision making as a team, and we thought worth sharing with the industry.
