Doc’s Food Stores, which operates as Country Mart, JB’s Market and Apple Market, launched the Mushroom Council’s successful Blend model in their deli, meat and produce departments at all their retail stores and had sales gains in all three departments. The Blend is a method of mixing finely diced mushrooms into proteins such as beef, turkey, lamb or pork to make hamburgers, meatloaf, meatballs, tacos and chili. The Blend enables consumers to enjoy their favorite foods while reducing their intake of fats, sodium, cholesterol, and calories, while adding a portion of produce.
“The results of The Blend promotion exceeded our expectations,” explains Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council. “Doc’s did an excellent job of launching and promoting The Blend with sampling, passing out recipe cards and cross promoting in the three departments. They made sure their customers knew about the benefits of The Blend.”
Doc’s Food Stores Promoted Fresh Mushrooms Across Deli, Meat and Produce Departments featuring the Mushroom Council’s Blend model.
Throughout the promotion, Doc’s advertised fresh Blend Mushroom Burgers and Blend Meatloaf in their Weekly Summertime Savings circular. “How to Prepare The Blend at Home” was also featured. The retailer also sampled Blended Turkey Tacos and Blended Chili for their customers to try. The retailer supported the initiative with local and trade PR. The launch was so successful that consumers came into the stores asking specifically for Blend patties.
The results of The Blend promotion indicate that people were encouraged to try The Blend and make it at home. The produce department had a 60 percent sales increase in fresh mushrooms. The meat department saw an increase of 12 percent in hamburger patty sales. Blended burgers represented over eight percent of all patties sold. A 10 percent increase in meatloaf lunch and dinner sales in the deli department occurred when switching over to Blend meatloaf.
“We are excited about the sales results of The Blend launch at our stores,” explains Danny Williams, Director of Produce Marketing for Doc’s Food Stores in Bixby, OK. “Our customers really liked our Blend meatloaf and patties so we’ve decided to keep these items as part of our everyday product offerings.”
Due to the success of The Blend program, Doc’s Food Stores continues to offer and sell The Blend in the produce department by displaying POS materials to keep their customer informed of the benefits. The meat department continues to sell Blend patties and the deli department continues to offer The Blend.
The Council attributes the success of the promotion, in part, to the well-defined strategic plan. From the start, Doc’s had specific goals to achieve when they launched The Blend. They also envisioned a program that would live beyond the launch period. Doc’s established employee and total-store incentives to encourage staff to stay focused on mushroom/Blend sales goals, which varied by store.
Contact:
Bart Minor
President & CEO
The Mushroom Council
Tel: (650) 632-4250