Mushroom Limited Time Offers (LTO) in Foodservice in 2020 and 2021
Last year started out strong for new mushroom dishes on menus, but the health crisis all but put a stop to restaurants featuring mushrooms as a special or a Limited Time Offer (LTO). However, Q4 of 2020 found mushrooms picking up momentum. In fact, the number of LTOs featuring mushrooms was similar to the same quarter in 2019, which was a strong year for foodservice.
Mushrooms were featured in dishes across all types of restaurants. We saw restaurants as diverse as Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza, Boston Market, Cheesecake Factory, Bonefish Grill, Burgerville, Denny’s, Olive Garden, Mod Pizza, Noodles & Company, Perkins and Shake Shack all serve up consumer-friendly mushrooms in special dishes.
The type of dishes varied as well. We saw Italian specialties like Spaghetti Primavera, Marsala Chicken, Mushrooms & Pancetta Tortellini, 3-Cheese Tortellini Pesto with Mushrooms and Mushroom Ravioli Pesto. We also saw comfort Foods like Chicken Pot Pie, Dijon Chicken, Dynamite Salmon with Crab and Mushroom Topping, Chicken and Shroom Melt, Mushroom Swiss Burgers, a variety of Pizzas and Pot Roast Stroganoff. On-trend items included Soy-Glazed Butterfish, Smokey Blue Cheeseburger, and Black Truffle 'Shroom Burger. Menus also featured meatless items like a Veggie Sub and an Artichoke and Mushroom Sandwich.
2021 started off strong as well with items like True Foods Kitchen’s Winter Immunity Bowl, Denny’s Chicken Addiction Bowl with Mushrooms, Starbucks’ Kale and Portabella Egg Bites and a major win in the sub category with Jersey Mike’s Portabella & Swiss Sub.
Foodservice is still in transition following a tough 2020, but the innovation pipeline has started. Mushrooms are very much a part of the development as they can be featured in plant-based or plant-forward meals, they add distinctive flavor to any dish, they are a fit for every type of cuisine, and they can feed your immune system.
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National Restaurant Association Releases Top 2021 Trends and 2020 Top Menu Sellers
 The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is always looked to as a key source of information on the trends that operators need to stay relevant in the competitive foodservice marketplace. Just last year we celebrated how mushrooms and blended burgers appeared on the organization’s influential annual “What’s Hot” list of top trends.
But with 2020 being “a year unlike any other… that tested the limits of operator innovation, accelerated trends, and confirmed that customers miss their restaurant experiences” --as the NRA straightforwardly states in their recent release of their 2021 State of the Industry Report-- the typical resources they provide are taking a different tack this year.
This year, the NRA instead shares how the restaurant industry survived this year. They review the top ways the 6,000 operators surveyed were able to show their resiliency, innovation, and commitment despite unprecedented challenges.
2021 Top Restaurant Trends
- Streamlined Menus
- Off-premises Takes Precedence
- “Blended Meals” (where consumers prepare some of the meal at home and order some from restaurant takeout)
- Bundled Meals Considered Deals
- Meal Kits Make Cooking Fun
- Meal Subscriptions
- Restaurants Selling Groceries
- Alcohol To Go
- Comfort Foods
- Healthy and Diet-Specific Foods
2020 Top Menu Sellers
Fine Dining, Family Dining, Casual Dining
- Burgers
- Seafood Items
- Pizza
- Steak
- Chicken (excl. wings)
- Breakfast Items
- Pasta
- Mexican Food
- Sandwiches/Subs/Wraps
- Chicken Wings
Quickservice, Fast Casual, Coffee/Snack
- Sandwiches/Subs/Wraps
- Pizza
- Burgers
- Chicken Items (excl. wings)
- Ice Cream/Cookies/Cakes
- Baked Goods
- Breakfast Items
- Mexican Food
- BBQ Items
- Seafood Items
Access the Detailed Reports:
Download the 2021 Trend Summary
Download the 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Report
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WE STILL NEED YOU! MUSHROOM INDUSTRY NEEDED TO JOIN IN PROMOTION OF JERSEY MIKE’S NEW GRILLED PORTABELLA SUB
 The Mushroom Council is helping to drive sales of Jersey Mike’s new mushroom sub nationwide, and we need you! Yes, YOU!
Mushroom industry members are encouraged to take a photo of yourself enjoying the new Jersey Mike’s sub.
There’s no right or wrong way to do it!
Here are some ideas:
- Take a pic of yourself smiling with your tasty sandwich.
- Pose for a portrait with the in-store signage promoting the new sub.
- Stand under the Jersey Mike’s sign outside the shop with your to-go bag and give it a big thumb’s up!
(Of course, follow your local guidance for public safety in all of the above scenarios!)
Send us your photos soon as we kick off this launch with our strong support. We’ll share them on our website and social media and will also share with Jersey Mike’s to show them our commitment.
Also, we would like to promote this meatless option heavily during Lent, a period when so many people give up meat on Fridays or even for the entire period, so your timely photo submissions will be very helpful in seizing this special promotional opportunity.
AND, everyone who sends a photo will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Jersey Mike’s gift card!
Let’s show the world how proud we are to see mushrooms adding a nutritious, delicious, and sustainable option to menus across the country!
Please send your picture to Cristie Mather at cmather@flmharvest.com or text them to her at 503-705-8404.
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