July 18, 2008

Food websites grow as self-sufficiency gains popularity

Almost a year ago we investigated the seasonality of popular recipes. Recent analysis for 2008 reveals a similar pattern, with searches for cake recipes featuring heavily again this summer. However, it was interesting to note that visits to the Food and Beverage - Lifestyle & Reference category, which includes recipe and chef websites, have increased by 42% since last year (July 2007). As the chart below illustrates, much of this increase has taken place over the last three months.

There are a couple of reasons for this recent rise in visits. Firstly there is the success of Channel Four’s River Cottage series, and the related increase in searchers for the program’s presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his free range chicken campaign. Visits to the official River Cottage website (www.rivercottage.net) have increased by 175% year-on-year, while searches for ‘river cottage’ rose six-fold while the show was on air. The focus on self-sufficiency and encouragement of home-grown produce has certainly been popular during a period heavy with fears of recession and rising food prices.

An interesting spin-off from this show was the sudden popularity of ‘elderflower champagne’. A recipe for the summery drink was featured on the River Cottage Spring show during May, and since then searches for the home-made brew have rocketed, up 350% compared to June 2007. However, searchers aren’t visiting the River Cottage website or the show’s Channel 4 profile, but are instead going to the top organic result on Google UK, the BBC’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (H2G2). This website operates in a similar way to Wikipedia, acting as a mixture of forum and reference guide. The site has retained a loyal fan base over the years, and has featured a recipe for home-made elderflower champagne since 2001.

The other reason for the recent increase in traffic to the Food & Beverage-Reference category has been the popularity of the Food section of the Channel 4 website. Although it hasn’t done quite so well out of the elderflower champagne searches, 4Food has experienced a notable increase in visits since May. It now captures one in 20 visits to the category, ranking third behind BBC Food and UKTV Food.

Channel 4 is appealing to a different demographic than the other two sites in the top three. The BBC Food and UKTV Food websites both have a similar breakdown of visitors to their site, performing consistently well with visitors from the over 55’s age group. This age bracket is also the largest demographic for the overall category. However, Channel 4’s food website captures the majority of its visitors from the 25-44 age-group, who accounted for over 50% of traffic to the site during the four weeks ending 12 July 2008.

Keep up to date with the latest online trends and stats by following Hitwise UK on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Hitwise_UK

Posted by Robin Goad at 11:30 AM
Posted to BBC | Demographics | Food | News and Media | TV

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