Amateur Chef Business Plan
Title, type of
magazine and
market sector
Summarise your
idea
Reader profile
Amateur Chef
Consumer special interest magazine
Cooking monthly
Amateur Chef is the first magazine to target the home gourmet,
and taps into a growing trend for food fetishism. The food
magazine market is a busy one, but where Amateur Chef
differentiates is in offering information and advice for the
talented hobby chef, those who look to cooking as a way to
spend their free time rather than solely to feed their family. It
taps into the rising popularity of programmes like Come Dine
With Me and Masterchef, and there is currently no brand for
those who want to challenge themselves and improve their
practical cookery skills. Through a combination of print
magazine, cookery books and exclusive online content
Amateur Chef will become an interactive and engaging brand
that penetrates into a lucrative and as yet untapped market.
Demographics: Male A, B, C1
Men, aged between twenty and thirty-five, with an interest in
cuisine.
*Please see attached Reader Profile and Research Summary*
Brand
characteristics and
editorial content
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There are currently no UK food magazines aimed at
passionate home hobby cooks.
The magazine will be about providing professional
advice and information for amateurs who want to
improve their cooking skills.
Most home cooks are self-taught and have little
understanding of the techniques taught in professional
cooking schools. Amateur Chef will provide this, and
help hobby cooks develop a greater understanding of
food.
Technique and advice will form a large part of the
editorial, from how to improve knife skills to enhancing
understanding of flavour pairings.
Practical help is the watchword. There is no place for
extended critiques of a nation’s food philosophy, but
there will be explanations of the culinary methods that
create it.
The brand will engage with its readers, acting as a
helpful and knowledgeable friend rather than an expert
talking down to the reader.
Interactivity is important element of this interactivity, and
through online content and apps (see later) Amateur
Chef will talk readers through technical cooking skills
and recipe ideas.
Editorial will be chatty, simple and engaging, the friend
in the pub without the pretension and posturing that
characterises high-end food writing. Articles will be
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Competitive set
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Why it will succeed
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picture-led and attractive on the page, with food as the
central element.
With food being so photogenic, the words will work
around and complement the imagery. The pictures will
draw the reader in, and the words will keep them there.
The seasonality of produce and the constantly evolving
world of high-end cuisine will allow Amateur Chef to
constantly provide new information, and keep readers
abreast of the latest developments in cooking.
The model for Amateur Chef is more akin to other
special interest hobby mags like Amateur Photographer
and Pro Cycling than mass-market cookery magazines.
The food magazine market is a busy one, with
competition from supermarket magazines, dedicated
food magazines such as delicious., and celebrity tie-ins
like Jamie. Mass-market weeklies, newspaper
supplements and even ABC1 titles such as Monocle
contain food sections.
Amateur Chef differs by targeting a gourmet audience
for whom cooking is a passion, rather than a task. It is
for the man who’ll spend £100 on a knife, not the one
looking to ‘Feed your family for a fiver’.
Since there is no other print product in this market, the
main competition is online and from international titles
such as Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Cooks Illustrated,
who all have a significant web presence.
To counter this, Amateur Chef would be very UK
focused, with emphasis on using local, seasonal
produce and features information being limited (mostly)
to the British culinary scene.
There are no magazines offering technical knowledge
as taught in culinary schools, rather than just recipes.
Amateur Chef will differentiate by improving readers’
skills beyond individual recipes.
As the growth in high-end cooking programmes such as
MasterChef and The F Word has shown, there is a huge
interest in producing restaurant quality food at home.
Outside London, even restaurants in regional cities now
offering ‘culinary weekends’ where diners are taught to
cook by professional chefs.
Cooking is far more than a purely functional task, and
as TV programmes like Come Dine With Me prove,
entertaining for friends and family is a semi-competitive
hobby, with individuals attempting to out-do each other
at home.
From my research, urban professionals short on time
see cooking each night as an important period of
relaxation, and enjoy the process as much as the end
result.
There is a geeky side to cooking which men especially
enjoy. The prevalence of kitchen gadgets and
expensive cookware is not something covered in
existing cooking magazines, but is an important part of
the hobby chef’s kitchen.
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How it will make
money
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Despite declining circulations generally the special
interest market is holding comparatively strongly.
Amateur Chef is more than an occasional pick-up, but
rather a title that builds long-term relationships with its
readers.
75% of Britons cook every day, and they spend an
average of 49 minutes preparing meals.
BBC Good Food has a circulation of 320,000 and
delicious. has a circulation of 94,000. These represent
the mass- and higher-end of the UK food magazine
market.
The Observer Food Monthly, which has a similar
demographic although a very different distribution
model, has a circulation of over 1m.
Bon Appetit and Cooks Illustrated do not have a wide
circulation in the UK outside London and are generally
available only through subscription.
BBC Good Food Online receives 2.8m monthly visitors
from the UK. Bon Appetit Online receives 760,000
monthly visitors from the UK.
Amateur Chef would be the only high-end, technically
focused cooking magazine in the UK, and the only
male-focused cooking magazine.
Food and television have long gone together, but there
are currently more cooking programmes on TV than
ever before. Cooking is now prime time entertainment,
and there are entire channels dedicated to food
programming.
Short and long term cooking courses, run by restaurant
chefs and professional teachers, are available
throughout the UK for amateur chefs looking to improve
their skills, and cover everything from pastry to
butchery.
There is a real taste in the UK for a high-end, gourmet’s
cooking magazine that focuses on technical skill, quality
ingredients and the latest in culinary innovation.
Amateur Chef will be priced at £3.99. This is slightly
more expensive than delicious. to reflect the high-end
readership and content.
Amateur Photographer, a hobby magazine with a
similarly niche and special-interest readership, has a
circulation of 18,000.
Circulation would sit between more mass-market food
magazines, which have a broader demographic, and
hobby magazines which are more niche.
The print run would be 80,000 with 50% unsold, giving a
circulation of 40,000.
This is a conservative figure for the initial launch. As it
begins to gain exposure and become more accepted by
hobby chefs, the circulation will begin to rise.
The editorial/advertising split in food magazines is
around 80/20%, in hobby magazines it’s nearer 70/30%.
Since Amateur Chef sits between the two, the split will
be 65/35%.
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Special Editions
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Advertising
strategy
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Marketing strategy
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As it is monthly and quite a small magazine, there will
be five editorial staff. These would be Editor, Senior
Staff Writer, Sub-editor, Art Director and Web Editor
There will be a series of special, ‘one-off’ editions of
Amateur Chef.
They will focus on particular national cuisines or cooking
techniques.
They will be available quarterly, alongside the normal
editions.
They will focus more on recipes and very particular
techniques around the theme, more akin to a traditional
cookery book than a magazine.
The special editions will have high production values
and be collectors’ items, priced at £5.99. Format will be
similar to the special editions produced by Computer
Music magazine.
Culinary courses and equipment manufacturers will be
the main sources of advertising for Amateur Chef.
From my research, readers have shown that they enjoy
buying and using new equipment. ‘Features/reviews on
cooking equipment’ was the 3rd most requested item in
the survey.
Amateur Chef’s key advertisers will be cooking
equipment companies such as specialist knife
manufacturers and resellers like Procook who would be
advertising directly to their target market.
Advertising for restaurants and food companies like
Lurpak would also be an important part of the
advertising mix.
High quality food sellers and premium supermarkets
would also be potential advertisers, especially through
chef-fronted campaigns e.g. Heston Blumenthal.
Classified ads will add an extra income stream to the
magazine.
Advertorial will also be an important revenue stream,
especially for culinary courses or cooking equipment.
Marketing to support the launch will consist mainly of
internet advertising via paid-for Google ads and
Adwords (targeting cooking technique search terms and
specific recipes featured in the launch issue).
Amateur Chef will also be advertised within other
similarly-targeted titles owned by its publisher and in
The Observer Food Monthly.
With limited launch budget for a special-interest such as
this, ambient advertising would be an effective way of
generating press coverage of the launch and
broadening brand recognition.
The results of a survey to discover the most popular
national cuisine and which nation has the best home
chefs would sent to national papers and food
magazines as PR, giving Amateur Chef national
exposure.
The results will also be tied to editorial in the launch
Circulation
strategy
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Production
strategy
Financial strategy
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Web strategy
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issue, giving the magazine impact on the newsstand
with a recognised story.
Amateur Chef will be positioned in the food section of
the magazine stands, alongside the likes of delicious.
The magazine will be focussed on the higher-end
supermarkets (Waitrose and Booths) and WHSmiths.
It will also be solved in kitchenware shops like Lakeland
and John Lewis.
There is potential to negotiate an exclusive distribution
agreement with Waitrose & John Lewis, as their
customers suit the reader demographic.
Subscriptions will be publicised via on-page promotions
and the Amateur Chef website.
Amateur Chef will have a glossy cover of about
100gsm.
The paper inside the cover will be 60gsm.
The magazine will be perfect bound.
In the first year, it is likely that Amateur Chef will make a
loss. This is because there will be initial launch and
marketing costs .
Once the magazine becomes established as an
important part of hobby cooking, it will become more
financially profitable.
There will be a higher yield for advertisements as
companies realise the importance of reaching the hobby
chefs who are most likely to buy their equipment.
The magazine will also have formed a much stronger
identity by this point and be more attractive to bigger
name chefs. This will attract bigger interviews & skill
features to feature on the cover, which will result in
bigger sales.
Australia is a potential market for Amateur Chef as it
has a similar culinary culture.
An example of how the website will work, including
layout and a Get the Perfect… web exclusive, with
video and audio slideshow, can be found here:
http://jus.shef.ac.uk/magazines2012/jop11tb/
The website will be a crucial aspect of the Amateur Chef
brand. Although US titles in a similar market position
have popular websites, there is no British brand
targeted at this market sector.
The website will expand upon and tie into content in the
magazine, ensuring traffic is driven to the physical and
digital outlets. They will complement each other rather
than cannibalising content from one to fill the other.
QR codes next to recipes and technical features will
guide readers to online videos giving further
explanations.
The iPad version of Amateur Chef will have video
embedded within it, as well as linking to the products or
restaurants reviewed in the magazine.
There will be a ‘Recipe Book Builder’ where registered
members can save recipes from the magazine’s digital
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Web Advertising
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Social Media,
Smartphones and
tablets
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Future growth
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formats to view later.
Subscribers will receive additional, pay-walled content
such as technical training videos and chef interviews
that will drive up subscription rates and generate brand
loyalty.
Regular and guest blogs from personalities within food
(including critics, chefs and TV personalities such as
Greg Wallace) will add even more exclusive content to
the site for the readers.
The website will offer locally relevant content such as
restaurant listings and reviews that can’t be fully
realised in a national, paper magazine.
The website will incorporate a forum for readers to
interact and provide each other with information and
advice, as well as speaking to staff and guest
chefs/bloggers.
Web advertisers would be similar to the print magazine;
cookware, restaurants and food sellers, but with the
capability to drill down to meet demographic and
geographic information.
Recipes, videos and forums increase dwell time and
page views, and significantly reduce first-page-bounce
rates.
This makes web advertising more valuable, and
increases potential revenues.
Social media is a vital tool in encouraging brand identity
and brand loyalty.
Website content will be reposted through Facebook and
Twitter to encourage clickthroughs. More than 40% of
magazine website traffic now comes through Facebook.
The Amateur Chef Facebook fan page will encourage
readers to post their own recipes and food photos with
the aim of developing viral connections back to the fan
page, increasing brand awareness.
Amateur Chef will have dedicated Instagram and
Pinterest channels posting food photography, and
steering readers towards the website. They will also
encourage readers to send in and tag their own
attempts at magazine recipes and techniques.
Apps are a vital part of any food magazine, collating
recipes and technical videos.
Recipe book and recipe finder apps will help readers
find recipe ideas from different foods and steer them
towards the website.
Apps will enhance brand awareness as well as
generating further web traffic.
As mentioned above, there will be a dedicated tablet
version of the magazine, coupled with apps, which
encourages the reader to use their iPad/tablet in place
of a recipe book.
Growth will be achieved the traditional way – by
producing quality content that meets readers’ needs.
Amateur Chef meets a niche, and by developing a
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relationship with readers it will encourage increasing
subscriptions and increased sales.
The more skills readers have the more interest they will
have in purchasing the magazine, so sponsorship of
culinary schools and advertorial that increases
awareness of training centres will ensure that they
maintain in interest in hobby cooking.
Subscription offers and ‘refer-a-friend’ promotions will
ensure a growing subscriber base, as will improving the
quality and variety of subscriber-only and pay-walled
online content.