THE CONSUMPTION OF ONLINE FOOD CONTENT

Food as an American cultural phenomenon has exploded. We can’t get enough of it. It impacts our kitchens, our shopping experiences, the restaurants we visit, our social interactions, and the video content marketing that we consume.

How did we get here?

Many say it began in 1963 with Julia Child and her seminal TV show, “The French Chef.” According to Munchery, “she changed the perception of cooking as a chore to an art form that could be enjoyed by everyone.” Since then our food choices have exploded. “There used to be, as late as the 1990s, 7,000 items in a grocery store, and now it’s 40,000 to 50,000,” writes Michael Ruhlman, author of “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America.”

Today, our appetite for food content is insatiable

YouTube food content has generated well over 50 billion views.¹ And according to Forbes, videos on TikTok with the #foodtock hashtag have been viewed more than 64 billion times.² That’s no small potatoes.

50B

YouTube views

64B

TikTok views

Why is food content so popular?

1. Food is part of our identity.

Dishes are passed down like family heirlooms. Each recipe has an origin story with cherished memories attached to it. Depending on your heritage these memories may be spiced with ginger or tarragon, cumin or coriander, garlic or chili peppers, but they all have equally special meaning.

2. Food connects us.

Dining with family and friends can have a major impact on health and well-being, according to the CDC. Food also nourishes our social connections, as we happily trade recipes and share photos of the food on our plates online.

3. Food content actually makes us hungry.

Well prepared food excites our eyes and our bellies. Vibrant food colors in artful arrangements not only stimulate our senses, but receive a lot of 👍 too. According to cognitive neuroscience research, “food commercials… elicit a significantly larger neural response than their non-food counterparts in those parts of the brain that are thought to modulate food craving (Yeung, 2021).”

By creating quality food content you expose receptive consumers to new foods and new food experiences.

Quality food content makes a difference.

From famous chefs to network entertainment to small business profiles, food-related content permeates our work. We are passionate about food in all its forms and never stop learning the best and most powerful techniques to encourage online food content consumption. Get a small taste of some of our food favorites.