If you're into cooking, you must check out CookEatShare.com, a new social network geared at chefs, from beginners to pros.
Calling themselves a "Facebook" for home cooks and professional chefs, the site aims to connect people based on a passion for good food and its preparation.
A passionate cook myself, I checked out the site with curious anticipation. It looked fabulous, from the beautiful page layout to the content available.
I simply had to know more, so I took the opportunity to connect with the founder, Mihir Shah.
How many people are signed up on CookEatShare so far?
We just launched publicly in June and already have thousands of unique visitors, 600+ registered home cooks, and dozens of award-winning professional and celebrity chefs. Full PR campaign begins in August; founders of the site have previously built and run firms such as match.com, quinstreet.com, and liquid. Built and funded for high growth.
What is the advantage to signing up on CookEatShare versus just browsing the site?
Anyone, regardless of signing-up, can browse the site and consume the recipes posted. Members are able to make friends with professional chefs and other home cooks, communicate through the site, post recipes and use the recipe organizer, create groups and themes, review recipes, etc.
Now that people are becoming more calorie conscious and aware of nutrition, are you thinking about offering nutritional break downs for each recipe?
We are planning this in a future release. It's a great idea. We do offer healthy Themes and Groups around a variety of healthy and low fat menus.
Can chefs upload their own DIY videos?
Yes - professional chefs and teaching chefs can link to YouTube videos to help home cooks follow their instructions. We have a number of teaching chefs that already use the site to interact with their students and to encourage communication and collaboration within their classes.
What sets CookEatShare apart from other cooking sites?
We're unique in that we allow and encourage home cooks to interact with professional chefs - trying their recipes, asking questions, getting to know their styles, and generally building relationships that haven't been available to most. Everyone wins; drives traffic to the chefs' restaurants and enhances the lives of passionate home cooks.
We're also global - currently live in the US and Russia, we have a number of additional languages launching soon including our Spanish-language site which is launching in August.
Food is uniquely global, and we're excited that our chefs will be able to share recipes and ideas in their own language and have those thoughts propagated globally.
Thanks Mihir!
Want to see some more innovative food trends? Checked out Trend Hunter's food section!
Social Networks for Chefs
CookEatShare.com
Trend Themes
1. Social Networks for Chefs - Opportunity for creating social networking platforms tailored specifically for chefs, connecting professionals and home cooks.
2. Global Expansion of Cooking Platforms - Disruptive innovation opportunity to create cooking platforms that cater to a global audience, allowing chefs to share recipes and ideas in multiple languages.
3. Integration of DIY Videos for Cooking - Incorporating DIY cooking videos into cooking platforms, allowing professional chefs to share instructional videos and interact with home cooks.
Industry Implications
1. Social Networking - Opportunity for social networking platforms to target the chef community and facilitate interactions between professionals and home cooks.
2. Food and Beverage - Disruptive innovation opportunity to create cooking platforms that cater to the global food and beverage industry, enabling chefs to share recipes and ideas across borders.
3. Online Education - Incorporating DIY cooking videos into online education platforms, providing a space for professional chefs to share instructional videos and engage with an audience of home cooks.