The Mushroom Council’s collaboration with The Food Network — estimated to make more than 90 million impressions in 2021 — is one of the largest partnerships the council has ever undertaken.
The partnership helps the council continue to educate and inspire consumers about The Blend, the culinary practice of blending mushrooms with meat for dishes that are more delicious, nutritious and sustainable.
The idea is to make The Blend the default choice for burger lovers at home, said Eric Davis, council spokesman.
The partnership includes:
- The Blended Burger Contest, encouraging home cooks and culinary professionals nationwide to enter their own blended burger recipe. The contest deadline closed June 25 and featured two tracks: one for home cooks and one for professional chefs, cooks or caterers. Judging is now under way, and each category will award $10,000 to the top recipe entry. More than 1,300 recipes were submitted, and winning recipes will be unveiled in a fall 2021 issue of Food Network Magazine;
- A blended burger centerfold spread and a special pull-out recipe booklet in Food Network Magazine’s cookout-themed June issue. Also, a pull-out recipe booklet, “Secret Ingredient: Mushrooms,” showcased mushrooms in an array of mushroom-and-meat blended recipes including tacos, dan dan noodles, chili and lettuce wraps;
- Blended burger recipe video featuring Food Network’s Kardea Brown from the show “Delicious Miss Brown.” Brown’s custom blended burger recipe, “Kardea Brown’s Southern Mushroom-Beef Burgers,” appeared on Food Network’s website, on the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages as well as on Brown’s Instagram page;
- E-newsletter promotions with contest call-outs presented in Food Network’s e-blasts;
- Digital ads appearing on Food Network’s websites and social media pages; and
- A 15-second Mushroom Council TV ad that aired across the network schedule during popular primetime programs like “Bobby Flay’s BBQ Brawl” and “Chopped.” The ads touted mushrooms, highlighted The Blend and encouraged participation in the Blended Burger Contest.