Marketing Management of

Mushroom and 7 P’sPresentation

ByMr Allah Dad Khan

1. Make the market drive your production. Talk to potential buyers about volume and prices.

2. Explore various marketing options: brokers, distributors, farmers’ markets, restaurants, grocery stores, food service operations, and co-ops.

3. Consider reselling other growers’ mushrooms to offer more variety and larger volume.

4. Talk to other producers and perhaps a consultant about production systems.

5. Consider buying used equipment to reduce initial capital investment.

6. Strike a balance between undercapitalizing and a heavy debt load.

Market Management

Market the fresh or dried product directly to your customers (at farmers’ markets, to over the Internet, through mail-order offerings)

Add value to the mushroom by creating processed products (mushroom sauces, dried entrée mixes, teas, extracts)

Wholesale as fresh produce (on contract or by the batch)

Market Channels

If you can sell your mushrooms or mushroom products directly to an end user, you will naturally receive a better price than if you sell to a wholesaler. Direct marketing of mushrooms at local farmers’ markets, to restaurants, or in supermarkets is possible in many locations. When competing in local markets, excellent service, top quality, and consistent supply, rather than the lowest price, might win the sale, particularly with gourmet chefs. Some chefs specialize in locally grown foods and may be interested for that reason. Others are willing to pay for fresh, premium produce. In any case, establishing a relationship with the buyer and reliably delivering a quality product are essential for this type of marketing

Direct marketing

Selling fresh mushrooms to a wholesaler will mean a lower price than if you market directly. However, for growers who choose not to involve themselves in direct sales, there are established wholesale markets for mushrooms. Wholesalers advertise in produce industry periodicals like The Packer. Your local librarian or an Internet search can help you locate other such magazines.

Wholesale markets

Adding value to fresh mushrooms usually means either developing a processed product, such as a sauce, or drying surplus mushrooms for sale in the off-season, when prices are higher. A value-added product can be sold either directly to the consumer or to wholesalers

Adding Value to Fresh Mushrooms

The 7 Ps of Marketing

The marketing mix definition is simple. It is about putting the right product or a combination thereof in the place, at the right time, and at the right price. The difficult part is doing this well, as you need to know every aspect of your business plan.

Marketing Mix Definition:

To begin with, develop the habit of looking at your product as though you were an outside marketing consultant brought in to help your company decide whether or not it's in the right business at this time. Ask critical questions such as, "Is your current product or service, or mix of products and services, appropriate and suitable for the market and the customers of today?

P-1 Product

The second P in the formula is price. Develop the habit of continually examining and reexamining the prices of the products and services you sell to make sure they're still appropriate to the realities of the current market. Sometimes you need to lower your prices.

P-2 Prices

The third habit in marketing and sales is to think in terms of promotion all the time. Promotion includes all the ways you tell your customers about your products or services and how you then market and sell to them

P-3 Promotion

The fourth P in the marketing mix is the place where your product or service is actually sold. Develop the habit of reviewing and reflecting upon the exact location where the customer meets the salesperson. Sometimes a change in place can lead to a rapid increase in sales

P-4 Place

Process Many customers no longer simply buy a product or service - they invest in an entire experience that starts from the moment they discover your company and lasts through to purchase and beyond.

P-5 Process

The next P is positioning. You should develop the habit of thinking continually about how you are positioned in the hearts and minds of your customers. How do people think and talk about you when you're not present? How do people think and talk about your company? What positioning do you have in your market, in terms of the specific words people use when they describe you and your offerings to others?

P-6 Physical evidence

People Everyone who comes into contact with your customers will make an impression. Many customers cannot separate the product or service from the staff member who provides it, so your people will have a profound effect — positive or negative — on customer satisfaction

P-7 People

Boomers and Binter