Hardie Grant launches recipe subscription website Cooked

11 December 2013 Books+Publishing

Hardie Grant Books has launched a recipe subscription website called Cooked, which draws on content from the publisher’s cookbooks and allows members to create their own recipe collections to share with other members.

Hardie Grant Books marketing director Roxy Ryan told Books+Publishing that Cooked was launched on 5 December ‘after two years of planning and development both in-house and externally’. The website was created in conjunction with developer Deepend and the editorial content is being managed by in-house editor Hannah Koelmeyer.

As well as ‘thousands’ of recipes, Cooked features articles about food, author interviews and event listings. It also includes an online shop and a Pinterest-style section where members can create their own lists of recipes, which other members can choose to follow. Membership costs $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year, with a 30-day free trial also available.

‘As publishers we needed to diversify and compete in the ever-increasing and important digital sector, particularly in food, and make it commercially viable to do so,’ said Ryan of the decision to launch the subscription website. ‘As food publishers we felt we had a lot to offer in what can be a disappointing experience when searching for recipes online.’

Ryan said the paid subscription model ‘also enables us to pay authors fairly for the use of their recipes—each time a recipe is clicked on by a member the author makes a royalty’.

While the website currently only contains content from Hardie Grant, Ryan said the publisher is in discussion with other cookbook publishers to include their content. ‘We see Cooked as being a go-to destination for passionate cooks and food lovers in Australia and all over the world,’ said Ryan.

Category: Local news