Woolworths Taste draws a crowd

Taste magazine has released its Q2 ABC for 2020, a result that demonstrates real confidence in food print media. In a turbulent time, Taste has kept the (oven) light on, reducing print runs strategically over lockdown, while still producing high-quality content to support the surge in home cooking. The title announced a Q2 total ABC of 25 221. This 7% year-on-year decline is commensurate with the reduction in print order, which was also 7%. In short, print sales have held firm, indicating that there is still an engaged audience for the category. The result is a 25% decline on the previous quarter, which is a direct result of the ABC's decision to exclude March sales from the first period. Taste's Q1 ABC, therefore, consisted entirely of the sales of the Jan/Feb double issue. Unsurprisingly, there has been an increase in purchase of digital editions during the period - digital sales are up 11% on the previous period and up 100% year on year.

Taste's website, taste.co.za, has continued to serve content to a growing audience looking for daily solutions and cooking inspiration. After the initial traffic spikes attributed to the hard lockdown, the number of unique visitors to Taste is still significantly higher than pre-Covid levels. Taste.co.za attracted 284,605 visitors in July, which is a 77% increase year on year and a 57% increase when compared to January 2020. Taste's social media footprint has also grown 23% since January and stands at 360 000, a 34% increase compared to July 2019.

Kate Wilson, editor in chief, ascribes the brand's success during this period to agility, as well as the increased appetite for cooking content as both a resource and a diversion. "We deliberately tailored our content offering to serve these needs both in print and online. Online, our audience could connect with the food team first-hand in their own kitchens through a series of 'lo-fi' cooking videos, while print allowed us to reflect trends directly related to lockdown behaviour, from recipes for baking and using up your pantry stocks at Level 5 all the way to recipes requiring minimal cooking time, as lockdown fatigue set in."

Group account director Kelly Cloete adds: "What is clear is that the increased need for excellent food content is going to be an enduring legacy of this lockdown, and Taste is perfectly poised to deliver this for our customers and advertising clients."