Marketing update – mushroom in-store sampling
When it comes to planning dinner, nearly half of Australian cooks are last minute Larrys, providing the perfect opportunity to remind shoppers of the wonders of mushrooms as they do their dinner shopping.
With this key statistic in mind, the Hort Innovation marketing team developed the Mushroom In-Store Sampling Program.
Capitalising on the prevalence of impulse buyers in Australian supermarkets, mushroom ambassadors were at the ready to inspire eager shoppers with mouth-watering aromas, delicious tasting samples, and simple recipes to cook at home that night.
The in-store sampling, part of the levy-funded MU21503 project, was endorsed by the Mushroom SIAP to drive category growth with point of purchase conversion by inspiring shoppers with easy mushroom recipes to taste while in store.
The overall objective of the campaign is to contribute towards the FY22 Australian Mushrooms Brand vision to push long term domestic growth for the mushroom category.
The initiative is part of an effort to make Australian mushrooms a staple ingredient in the Australian home by driving increased consideration and frequency of purchase, and answer the underlying question:
“How do we inspire consumers to consider and use mushrooms more often?”
Emma Day, marketing manager at Hort innovation, explains that this initiative is part of a four pillar plan that underpins the mushroom marketing strategy (see MushroomLink, Issue 1 Winter 2022, page 19 for the full marketing strategy).
“This project is part of our Pillar 3 Win in Retail, which aims to increase the visibility of mushrooms in retail settings,” she said.
“In addition to in-store sampling, other elements of Pillar 3 include in-store advertising, online shopping advertising and out of home (OoH) advertising panels on the path to purchase, i.e., close to, or inside of, retail stores.
“As the project runs until the end of the year, we are still collecting data, but customer feedback has been very positive,” Emma added.
The in-store sampling program (10am-2pm) and (3pm-7pm) ran across the country (except Northern Territory) in Woolworths and Coles stores. Demonstration tables, branded with Australian mushrooms imagery, also contained additional marketing collateral including business cards and a QR code linked to the Australian Mushrooms website for more mushroom recipes.
Australian Mushroom Brand Ambassadors prepared two recipes, namely vegetarian ‘meatballs’ and mushroom mini toast. Australian families love meatballs, and this vegetarian version taps into the growing trend for people to reduce the amount of meat in their diets.
The mushrooms on toast recipe aligns with the AMGA-run Café Culture foodservice campaign, #mymushroomtoast, recently won by the Guyala Café in Cairns.
A total of 276 in-store sampling sessions have been completed thus far, with sessions ramping up toward Christmas to complete 600 in total by end of 2022.
The current results are as follows:
Total samples: 23,736
Total interactions: 32,568
Average samples per session: 86 (Target: 80)
Average interactions per session: 118 (Target: 115)
Customer feedback suggests that they love the vegetarian options and the aroma of the garlic and mushrooms throughout the store, which encourages tasting. The business and stand-up cards have been very successful as many samplers are interested in the recipes for the meatballs and mini toasts.
Brand Ambassadors have also been encouraging samplers to look through the “recipes” tab to view these recipes and many others, which highlight the versatility of mushrooms. This has been a key talking point among all sessions.
This article was originally published in the MushroomLink magazine Issue 03 (December 2022). Click here to view the publication.
