Meat trays get a mushroom makeover

Meat raffles are a cultural icon in many Australian pubs and clubs but in April the traditional raffle was turned on its head.

Hort Innovation, through the mushroom marketing fund, partnered with Australian Mushrooms to launch what is believed to be the world’s first Mushie Meat Tray. Complete with butcher-quality cuts of portobellos, buttons, flats and cups, alongside the usual sausages and steaks, this is the flexitarianism meets Aussie pub culture at its finest.

Former rugby league footballer, television presenter and RSL club enthusiast Beau Ryan launched the Mushie Meat Tray at the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club in Sydney.

Patrons on the night enjoyed mushroom-inspired versions of classic Aussie dishes, including mushroom parmigiana, mushroom risotto, and mushroom burgers. Combined meat and mushroom - or mushroom only - trays (25 in total) were raffled on the night.

Hort Innovation marketing manager, Emma Day, said research had revealed that more than 70% of Australians head to their local RSL for their chance to win the meat raffle and more than a quarter of Australians would much rather win an RSL meat tray than go surfing at Bondi Beach.

The team behind the campaign are delighted with the media buzz surrounding the event.

“To date, we have secured more than 100 pieces of coverage, providing more than 60 million opportunities to reach Australians,” Ms Day said.

“We received coverage on platforms and in publications such as News.com.au (Australia’s leading news site), Sunrise (Australia’s number one TV breakfast show) and Man of Many (Australia's largest men's lifestyle site). We also secured an interview with Australian Mushrooms grower Chris Tolson, with the North Queensland Register piece syndicated across six titles.

“On launch day, we secured an opportunity with breakfast TV show Sunrise. During the five minute live cross from the Canterbury RSL, Beau Ryan explained what the Mushie Meat Tray was, talked to our key messaging and mentioned Australian Mushrooms on multiple occasions. The clip syndicated 44 times nationally.

“To further drive our social media presence, we launched an Instagram competition to encourage different community groups to apply to win their very own Mushie Meat Trays. To enter, fans had to comment on why they thought their community group deserved to win trays to auction off. This garnered more than 700 entries.”

The trays are now set to be rolled out nationwide, with Australian Mushrooms launching a toolkit to help RSL clubs create their own take on the Mushie Meat Tray, and RSL clubs in both Queensland and Victoria have answered the call.