UC Riverside's Blended Burger Project

Burgers are a popular item at UC dining halls, but the cost of keeping up with the demand was getting expensive. UC had been contracting with a third-party vendor to source beef. That’s when Eric Pollack, Food Commodity Manager in Oakland, came up with a more economical solution for UC to source directly from the rancher.  

At the same time, UC Riverside’s Executive Director of Dining, David Henry, was looking into more sustainable and healthier burger options. After much research, their interest was caught by the blended burger which combines blanched mushrooms with grass-fed beef. David Henry and Gustavo Plascencia of UCR Dining teamed up with UCR Procurement Analyst, Matthew Burke and Eric Pollack to bring a tasty blended burger to UCR dining halls. Eric worked with Harris Ranch, who would supply the beef, and found a mushroom supplier that could make a burger to their liking.

After several taste tests with students, the winning burger included a blend of 70% beef and 30% mushroom. In a study with 450 students, 88% of them enjoyed the taste of the blended burger and 65% said they were unaware that the burger even contained mushrooms.

“The secret to this burger’s great taste is that the mushrooms are blanched as opposed to being raw. You can’t even taste the mushrooms, and in fact, they make for a juicier burger,” says Eric.

UCR began serving the burgers in 2016 and is proud to be providing a more sustainable option to its consumers. Approximately 2000 patties are served weekly, which saves approximately 2.5 million gallons of water and 80 metric tons of GHG emission annually. In addition to being sustainable, the burger is a heathier alternative for students providing 22% less saturated fat and 88% more fiber.

UCR’s Blended Burger Project is gaining UC-wide attention as more campuses are exploring the option. It is also getting recognition from other higher education institutions in California. In late June, Matt and Gustavo presented the project, moderated by Justin Sullivan, Director of Strategic Sourcing COE, at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference at UCSB.

If you would like to learn more about this project, please join us for Matt’s presentation at the next UC Procurement On Stage on Friday, October 13^th, noon-1pm, open to all systemwide Procurement professionals. Register HERE.

“We hope that by sharing our positive experiences with the project, more will be up to the challenge which would lead to greater positive environmental impact,” says Matt.

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