Doc’s Food Stores, which operates as Country Mart, JB’s Market and Apple Market in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, has launched the Mushroom Council’s “Blend” in its deli, meat and produce departments at all of its stores. “The Blend” is mixing finely diced mushrooms into proteins such as beef, turkey, lamb or pork to make hamburgers, meatloaf and meatballs. The Blend enables consumers to enjoy their favorite foods while reducing their intake of fats, sodium, cholesterol and calories and adding some produce.
Doc’s will cross-promote The Blend in each of the three departments to make sure consumers get the message.
“We are excited that Doc’s is encouraging their customers to add extra servings of vegetables to their meal by incorporating The Blend,” says Bart Minor, president of the Mushroom Council. “While many retailers have launched The Blend in their stores, Doc’s is the first retailer to roll out The Blend in all (three) departments at once.”
To help Doc’s promote its “Mushroom Mania” launch, the Mushroom Council supplied the retailer with recipe cards to pass out to its customers; created posters and an infographic to help shoppers understand the benefits of The Blend; and created QR code labels for easy scanning, which will direct consumers to the Council’s consumer site and provide them with more information on The Blend.
As further promotion, Doc’s will sample Blended Turkey Tacos and Blended Chili and will promote Blended Meatloaf in the deli as their “meal of the week.”
For information on The Blend and retail sales support, visit MushroomsAtRetail.com.
The Mushroom Council comprises fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually. The mushroom program is authorized by the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990 and is administered by the Mushroom Council under the supervision of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the U.S. and abroad.
Doc’s Market, founded in 1946, is a third-generation family-owned company that operates nine locations under the Country Mart, JB’s Market and Apple Market brands.
