MyFoodbook creates a new place in the kitchen for food brands
Well-known food brands have a new place in the kitchen with the launch of a website that introduces branded content into personalised cookbooks. The Australian website MyFoodbook allows consumers to create high-quality personalised cookbooks that may include both professional recipes from leading brands and old family favourites, with quality photography.
The site – www.myfoodbook.com.au – has attracted significant food industry interest with a number of major brands, including Schweppes, Blanco, Dilmah, Dairy Australia, Kitchen Aid, Western Star and Creative Gourmet, all having contributed recipes to the site. Other brands are also in discussions to become contributors.
After five weeks of trading, more than 25,000 recipes have so far been selected for inclusion in a personalised book and more than 15,500 people have joined the myfoodbook community on Facebook.
MyFoodbook comes in a hard cover binder format and allows consumers to continually add new recipes to their collection, creating an ongoing relationship with both myfoodbook and the participating brands. This approach also creates a relationship with consumers who have personally invested in the book and invited brands into their kitchen.
The site is the inspiration of passionate home cook Carolyn Brasher, a lover of beautiful cookbooks who says she hated ripping out recipes from magazines and believed there had to be a better way for consumers to create personalised, quality cookbooks that combine the recipes of their favourite brands and their own creations.
“Like thousands of home cooks, I’m constantly collecting and trying to store recipes from multiple sources. I’m also a lover of beautiful, professional cookbooks and I’ve always wanted to create one of my own with recipes that perfectly match my tastes, whether they are professional recipes or my grandmother’s classics. myfoodbook is the result of that ambition”, said Brasher.
Conceived more than 18 months ago, the project received an early boost when thousands of home cooks began to connect with myfoodbook through social media long before the official site was launched. For Brasher this was a clear demonstration of demand for a product that would bring mass customisation to the world of cookbooks. It also provided recipe contributors with immediate access to an audience that was seeking out brands who would engage with consumers when and how consumers wanted them to.
Professional cooking and food brands can list branded recipes on the myfoodbook website for an annual subscription fee that includes unlimited uploads, social media promotions and links back to the contributors website. The site also provides for various advertising and promotion opportunities including sampling, EDM’s and newsletter content.
“There was some very early evidence that home cooks were looking to combine their passion for cookbooks with their demand for regular new content. A number of brands recognised that myfoodbook takes kitchen organisation into a new realm: premium, personal and infinite”, said Brasher.
A range of starter book packs featuring only the recipes consumers personally select, start at a very reasonable $39.95 (including 10 recipe pages), with individual recipes priced at $1.25. The price includes a fully personalised dust cover, consistent recipe page formatting, expandable hard cover and 15 section tabs.
myfoodbook is planning on expansion of the website to include professional chef recipes, expert cooking videos and advice, automated menu planners and shopping lists, and will also offer digi-books for consumers who want to capture their collection as an e-book rather than hardcover.
