There’s No Better Time to Stock & Promote Portabellas Than This Summer

According to our findings, there’s no doubt that White mushrooms are most grocers’ top-selling fungi, with shoppers most often choosing White buttons and slices. But the closest contender to this mega-moving mushroom is the bold Portabella— finding its way in shopping carts right after Whites.

Are you stocking the second highest-demanded retail mushroom? If not, data is showing that there’s no better time than now to add Portabellas to your mushroom set. Or, if you already have Ports, it’s a mighty fine time to increase your promotion.

Here’s why this summer (especially!) is the best time to start stocking and heavily marketing Portabella mushrooms:

1. Portabella sales are resurging.

You may be skeptical of Portabellas because retail sales have been decreasing over the last 4-5 years. Sure, we’ll be frank. Port sales were a little flat. But since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, our data shows a clear resurgence of this overlooked mushroom.

Just what kind of sales growth are we talking about? In the last year alone, Portabella mushrooms showed a gain in dollar and volume sales of +17.7% and +13.3%, respectively, according to The Mushroom Council’s Mushroom Retail Tracker Report through March 2021.

That means Ports are bringing in more money and selling at higher volumes than they have in years, showing promise for summer retail sales and beyond.

2. Portabellas are taking their place amongst other mushroom staples, in both retail and restaurants.

The great news is that although Portabellas are on the rise, they’re not cannibalizing other mushroom category sales! Instead, they’re complementing other best-selling mushroom varieties, proudly sharing the shelves with Whites and Baby Bellas. 

And this isn’t just a trend we’re seeing in retail. Portabellas’ presence in restaurants is expanding in the form of Port burgers, pizza toppings, and more— through fast-casual to fine dining settings. 

It’s the reason that in August of 2019, The Mushroom Council officially declared Portabella’s firm place in the “proliferation” phase of their mushroom varieties. That means Port sales are finally increasing in chain restaurants and mainstream grocery stores and well on their way to becoming ubiquitous.

3. Customers are searching for more Portabella mushroom recipes.

On Monterey Mushroom’s recipe blog, we noticed an interesting trend. Our Portabella recipes saw a spike in views between February 2020 and September 2020. 

The coronavirus pandemic— no doubt— played a role in this peak. This increase in online traffic on our recipe’s blog may be a direct relation to shoppers dining out less over the pandemic and purchasing Portabella mushrooms at the grocery store to make at home. 

Nonetheless, we’ve noticed an increase in interest for Portabella-related content over the years. They always historically spike too over the summer months, when shoppers are grilling them with other picnic favorites. Why not capitalize on the trend?

Here are our five most popular Portabella recipes:

• Portabella Mushroom Cap “Mini” Pizzas
• Portabella Steak
• Portabella Fajitas
• Portabella Fries
• Portabella Lasagna

We recommend printing these as recipe cards to include in your store’s promotional content or placing take-home flyers near your mushroom display to increase your Portabella sales. 

Stock Your Ports with Monterey

You know how much the freshness and name-brand notoriety of your mushrooms matters. 

Here at Monterey, mushrooms are all we do— and all we’ve done for over 50 years. That’s how you know you can trust our team to promise you robust Portabellas, year-round. Our fungi experts are even on hand to offer individualized sales and promotional consultation. 

Ready to explore your options? From whole cap and sliced Bellas to High Vitamin D or organic packages, we’re your one-stop-shop for Ports (and your entire mushroom set!). 

Learn more about our  Portabella Mushrooms here.

Learn More About How to Get Our High Vitamin D Mushrooms On Your Shelves: