Cooking at home is a firm favorite with 89% of the respondents cooking for their families at least 4 times a week and 43% of them describing themselves as passionate chefs. 25% of them regularly buy organic food while 47% use herbs and spices in every meal they cook.
Online is an important part of their planning process with 49% of the readers sourcing their recipes from the internet, 37% from cookbooks, 10% and 4% from magazines and TV respectively. In fact, 45% of the respondents said they go online first when looking for new recipe ideas. "It is clear that users interested in food and wine are very active online and that they see in-depth and credible food focused platforms like Food24 as valuable resources. The platform also has popular interactive features like the option for readers to share recipes online or blog about their food experiences all of which add to the level of engagement with the site," says Vicki Steenkamp, The SpaceStation's Channel Sales Manager for Food24.
When it comes to eating out, 30% of the readers ate out at least once a week and 35% of them selected a restaurant based on website and reader reviews. In terms of wine, brand loyalty and recognition came out tops with 58% choosing a wine brand they know and recognise when buying wine in a restaurant while only 37% buy wine based on value for money.
When engaging online, 22% of the respondents had bought food and drinks online, 76% like reading news and articles online and 63% of them said they would click on online ads if they were relevant. "Once again we see how important it is to create ad campaigns that are relevant and targeted. Our niche lifestyle platforms like Food24 allow us to do exactly that," says Gustav Goosen, The SpaceStation's CEO.
Food24 is South Africa's largest food website with over 194,790 unique local browsers every month on the website and 88,732 international browsers on mobile (Effective Measure - March 2013). Food24 is exclusively represented by The SpaceStation.
