CHESTER COUNTY, PA - Home chefs everywhere are pre-heating their skillets, sharpening their knives, and opening up their recipe books to get down to business. Whether honing their cooking skills or participating in this year’s Blended Burger Competition hosted by The Mushroom Council and Food Network, consumers are on the lookout for new ingredients to set their creations over the top. Providing shoppers with a leg up in the competition and the kitchen, Buona Foods is promoting its 100% Fresh Mushroom Gourmet Crumble, a value-added offering currently available at regional retailers.
“For the week of June 4, our crumble will be on promotion at all Giant Food Stores, as well as featured in advertisements in the retailer’s digital circular to promote the product,” explains Chris Johansen, Sales and Account Manager at Buona. “We want to call attention to the Blended Burger Contest and our product to show shoppers that with this value-added offering, they no longer have to clean or chop the mushrooms, as it is already done for them—saving time and the hassle of cleanup.”
Buona’s Mushroom Gourmet Crumble comes in an 8 oz shaker top cup, sealed with an innovative film that improves shelf-life and maintains food safety. Not only does this packaging make the Crumble easy and attractive to merchandise, but it’s also a quick and convenient way for consumers to add mushrooms to meals at home.
As Chris goes on to tell me, Buona worked tirelessly to ensure that its new crumble would be the perfect ingredient for consumers. Featuring a delectable blend of white, cremini, and portabella mushrooms, the Mushroom Gourmet Crumble is adaptable and delicious, offering a wide variety of applications for shoppers as they explore their new home cooking skills.
“The concept for our crumble arose from the trend of blending fresh chopped mushrooms with ground proteins for recipes like tacos, meatloaf, and, of course, burgers. The Gourmet Crumble is perfectly suited to these applications, but can be used in plenty of other dishes as well,” continues Chris. “Top your pizza, add it to your eggs, or sauté the Crumble and serve it over a steak or chop.”
Because of its versatility and high-quality flavors, Buona sees its Mushroom Gourmet Crumble as the optimal fresh ingredient for those participating in the Blended Burger Competition. The contest requires participants to create a burger using their protein of choice, but it must incorporate at least 25 percent mushrooms into the final recipe, providing a unique opportunity for retailers to promote mushrooms across the produce aisle.
This is the eighth year of the contest, started as the Blended Burger Project in 2014, and the Mushroom Council has partnered with the Food Network for the 2021 competition. It is also the second year that home cooks have been invited to participate in the event, inspiring consumers everywhere to stock up on mushrooms and get cooking.
As a lover of mushrooms, I can’t wait to get my hands on Buona’s new Gourmet Crumble, and I’m positive shoppers everywhere are thinking the exact same thing. Although currently only available at The Giant Company stores and other retailers in the northeastern region, could your stores be next?
