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Case Study - Australian Mushroom Growers' Association

Case Study - Australian Mushroom Growers' Association (pdf, 460kb)

South Australian mushrooms keep on growing

Australian MushroomsSouth Australia’s mushroom industry is a multi-million dollar sector, employing hundreds of South Australians and putting quality fresh mushrooms onto tables all across the country. It is a great example of how an industry can work together and grow.

The mushroom industry in South Australia has grown substantially in the past four years, with a rapid expansion over the past 12 months in particular. Strong industry supported promotion, product development and increased market presence has created unprecedented consumer demand.

Weekly production jumped from 110,000 kilograms of fresh mushrooms in January 2009 to approximately 165,000kg by mid year. This will increase to 180,000kg by later this year, when full production is reached by one of the state’s expanding farms.

Doug Schirripa, Chairman of Adelaide Mushrooms and Chairman of the Australian Mushroom Growers’ Association (AMGA), has been involved with the industry for more than
25 years. He believes the demand for mushrooms, coupled with strong industry support, has driven the impressive growth of the sector over the past decade.

“We saw the huge change in consumer diets going to fresh foods and also eating mushrooms raw in salads and on BBQ’s. This led to a big increase in summer sales which were until that time quite dormant,” Doug said.

“Like most things, people were scared of change. However the mushroom industry has led its own survival and grand expansion by having the belief that if we grew a good, clean, safe and healthy product and let the consumer know of its benefits and uses, we could grow. We now see the benefits of this positive approach.”

Mushrooms are now number three on the best selling item list for fresh food, with 86% of all households regularly buying mushrooms - and 55% of them buying mushrooms weekly.

Growing in South Australia

South Australia currently has five commercial growers, with 60% of the crop sold locally and approximately 40% exported to Victoria and Western Australia. The farms are all family owned, employ around 250 people and generate around $47 million in farm gate revenue each year for the economy.

All mushrooms for the fresh market are picked manually and South Australian producers are well known for their high quality mushrooms and consistency of supply. Local mushrooms have been named top quality in Australia for the past seven years - and still maintain that mantle around the national markets today.  

The AMGA identified the need to build consumer demand for mushrooms more than a decade ago and sought industry experts to help drive growth plans, employing Pam Tobin as South Australian State Promotions Coordinator to implement a focused program of events to promote to consumers the benefits of mushrooms.

“South Australian growers all had full involvement in these growth plans and supported the moves within our state.”

Getting the mushroom message across

Mushrooms feature in many South Australian events that include cooking programs - such as annual food festivals, special events and major shopping centre appearances with local and interstate celebrity chefs and media personalities. 

“These events help promote mushrooms to the public, and highlight the exciting range of dishes that can be prepared and enjoyed,” Pam said.

The South Australian mushroom industry has three major campaigns each year, using radio to promote both a health and usage message. The campaigns are:

  • Mushroom Madness, recognising the best mushroom retailer of the year in each state.
  • Mushroom Mania, a food service program involving almost 2000 restaurants and cafés throughout Australia which promote mushrooms and healthy eating when dining out.
  • BBQ Mushrooms, spearheaded by enthusiastic and energetic chef Fast Ed, from Better Homes and Gardens,to encourage people to add mushrooms to the BBQ.

To help supplement the major advertising campaigns, the mushroom industry also uses other forms of communication to talk to families, grocery buyers and chefs. These include the Mushroom Lovers’ Club with regular newsletters and competitions for consumers and Mushroom Farm Walks, where chefs in South Australia are invited to visit a mushroom farm and gain further knowledge and appreciation of the mushroom growing process.

This industry supported promotional program has been critical in growing demand by consumers for mushrooms.

Building expertise

With the support of the national association – and building on growing demand - local growers have been able to make the big decision to grow production.

“Based on the sales created by this promotional push growers could see the benefit of investing further into increasing production on their farms.”

Some of the bigger operators travelled overseas to gain experience and knowledge on growing techniques, as well as improve production rates, hygiene practices and farm efficiencies.

“New growing economies were learnt and production per square metre grew from 15kg to more than 30kg doubling our production within the same growing area. By coupling the expertise from both Australian experts and those from overseas the industry has seen great strides forward. It’s fair to say that some of our own ideas are now world leading in certain areas,” Doug said.

“The industry world wide is good at sharing its industry knowledge and there is some good work being done jointly with several countries led and guided by the Australian industry."

The nutritious edge

There have been a number of health developments recently, particularly in the field of cancer research and the benefits of Vitamin D found naturally in mushrooms.

Co-author of the best selling CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, South Australian Associate Professor Manny Noakes and a team of CSIRO scientists conducted a thorough review of 11,000 international papers on the health benefits of mushrooms, finding a diverse range of nutrients. Professor Noakes has always been a fan of mushrooms “but the research has shown me even more about the diversity of essential nutrients they offer – vitamin D, plus B group vitamins such as - riboflavin, niacin and biotin, - as well as a range of essential minerals - all for so few kilojoules. All that and deliciously tasty too.”

Australian mushroom growers have welcomed the recent announcement of the Federal Government’s support under the Promoting Australian Produce Initiative. This $200,000 boost to the mushroom industry will support research underpinning proposed marketing efforts to inform consumers of the many health benefits of including mushrooms in their daily diets.

The AMGA works closely with many food industry experts, such as the South Australian Food Centre, TAFE SA and local chefs. For many years AMGA has worked closely with chefs of the future and their teachers by providing fresh mushrooms for cookery classes and competitions. Mushroom cookbooks, posters and recipe leaflets are made available for lecturers and their students.  

The mushroom industry is also involved in annual awards for academic excellence. Special cooking and information sessions are held regularly for overseas cordon bleu and local students.

The AMGA also provide demonstrations for community based functions, such as Annual Man Alive Festival, Spina Bifida awareness, science week with the South Australian Museum and Wellbeing Fiesta. The mushroom industry in South Australia works very closely with and is a member of the Go for 2 + 5 campaign.

Handy hints from the mushroom industry

  • Develop a business plan to ensure growth is sustainable and achievable.
    A five and ten year plan is essential to be able to guide an industry into spending in the correct areas to create growth.
  • Work with your industry leaders and innovators to identify promotional opportunities (such as Mushroom Lovers’ Club).
    Leadership and proper planning is paramount to achieve success. Different plans can be implemented to reach the goals set out in the strategic plans.
  • Seek external expert advice to assist your growth and development.
    To be successful it is important not to rely simply on your own expertise, which is often clouded with emotion about the product and you ideals. There are experts in the R&D,  promotion and consumer trend areas who, if used correctly, will enhance the plans and directions into the future. While spending a little money to gain this expertise, the benefits in results can be multiplied many times over.
  • Develop strong communications tools to assist members of your industry to promote consistent messages (such as Mushroom Madness).
    To gain support of all concerned it is important that everyone knows what is going on and more importantly are involved in the implementation of the plans. Communication to all is the prime objective to realising the goals set.
  • Work with consumers, retailers, wholesalers or marketers to determine what the public wants and build industry capability (such as Mushroom Retailer of the Year).
    The mushroom industry has been successful because it brings all players into the fold along the value chain. No industry can move forward unless it has the support of the relevant sectors using or selling its product.
  • Build relationships with government, which can provide assistance on R&D, grants, export links and marketing  (SA Food Centre, Austrade).
    Being open and honest, having the correct information and keeping the relevant organisations or the government informed, is a great way to do business.  Communication is key at all times.

Contact

Australian Mushroom Growers’ Association
Pam Tobin, South Australian State Promotions Coordinator
p +61 8 8234 8601
m +61 (0) 417 849 471
e thefoodstudio@ozemail.com.au
w www.cookingwithmushrooms.com