1. The
Measuring Cup
What American Families
are Eating and Cooking
1997 — 2012 THEN & NOW
Fifteen years ago, a group of five cookie-loving anthropology graduate
students launched CookieRecipe.com—one of the web’s first social media sites,
with all of its contents created by its community. A few years and a few dozen
websites (CakeRecipe.com, BreadRecipe.com, ChickenRecipe.com, etc.) later, the
sites were rolled up into one—Allrecipes.com. As use of the Internet grew among
busy, family-focused women, Allrecipes grew as well. Today, the site that started
with a single cookie recipe has grown to become the world’s largest digital food
brand, with 17 sites and 9 apps serving 25 million cooks in 22 countries.
Much has changed in the world since Allrecipes first launched in 1997.
In honor of its 15th anniversary, Allrecipes reran its first on-site survey
from 1999 to capture a snapshot of these changes. Measuring attitudes and
behaviors related to online recipe websites, Allrecipes discovered the impact
digital food resources have had on the shopping and cooking behaviors of
First Recipe Posted on Allrecipes:
home cooks over the past 15 years.
Neapolitan Cookies I
Insight 1:
Smartphones are Use of Smartphones for Meal
Planning and Preparation
(Numbers represent all home cooks,
the Main Ingredient
not just those with smartphones)
12% Shared a recipe idea on a social site
Mobile phones as a kitchen companion are one of the
most significant changes of the past 15 years. In 1997, 14% Viewed a digital shopping list in store
the typical cell phone weighed 10 ounces and was used
primarily for making phone calls. Today, half of women 15% Viewed a cooking video
with mobile phones are carrying smartphones,
pocket-sized computers ready to assist with an 16% Redeemed a digital coupon
astounding range of tasks. In 2012, more than or grocery saving offer
one-third of online cooks use smartphones 18% Created a digital shopping list
to look up recipes, while others use them
to create digital shopping lists (18%), 22% Snapped photo of a dish while eating out
redeem digital coupons (16%), and
watch videos to improve their 23% Looked at a recipe while in a store
cooking skills (15%).
29% Snapped photo of a dish they prepared
35% Looked at a recipe anywhere
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then & Now 1

2. Insight 2: Video is Vital
It’s no surprise food videos represent a growing trend. In the
past 15 years, food video has moved from basic cooking shows,
to mega celebrity chefs, to sensational reality series. What might
not be evident is that cooks are rapidly switching their viewing
behaviors from the big screen (TVs) to small screens (laptops and
mobile devices). Today, three-quarters of women watch cooking
videos online. Furthermore, the percentage of women who consider
how-to videos a must-have for recipe websites has nearly doubled
in the past 13 years (from 45% in 1999 to 74% in 2012), and this Today, three-quarters
trend is expected to grow. Nearly half of cooks (43%) believe that of women are watching
in 15 years, more people will learn how to cook from videos than cooking videos online.
from their parents. 45% 74%
in 1999 in 2012
Food and Tech
Insight 3:
Appetites Go Global
The ease and appeal of finding recipes online
is not just a U.S. phenomenon. Digital food
and recipe resources can now be found
around the globe. While tastes and food
Top 3 Search Terms
customs vary by country, cooks are more
• US – Chicken, Cookies, Meatloaf
alike than they are different when it comes
to finding recipes online. The top digital • UK – Cake, Chicken, Pizza
resource for recipes globally is search
engines (43% of online cooks) followed very • Australia – Chicken, Cake, Pizza
closely by recipe sites (42%). And the #1
search term worldwide? Chicken, of course.
Insight 4: Interactive Advertising Soars
According to eMarketer, in 2000, CPG brands Online Display Ad Spending
spent $134 million in online ad spending. Twelve
years later, their investment in online advertising
has grown exponentially, projected to reach 3.16
billion in 2012. Digital media has the unique ability
to speak to a wide audience on platforms available
at all points of need – desktop, tablet and mobile –
through a diverse portfolio of interactive executions.
As more consumers move online, and dollars follow,
ad products will continue to evolve from static
$134 Million $3.16 billion
displays (the standard ad unit in 1997) to solutions
and entertainment for the consumer – offering cou-
pons, video, relevant content and more, targeted to
the right person in the right place at the right time.
2000 2012
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then & Now 2

3. Sharing Food
Insight 5: 79%
Attractive photo
Has a New Meaning 78%
Plans to make
Shoppin
- eggs
- flour
- vanilla
g list
- brown
- choc sugar
Fifteen years ago, the social channels we know and trust ola
chips te
today didn’t exist. In 2012, the social web is a mainstay 75%
Top motivations Peer ratings
with sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest,
and Allrecipes all ranking among the top 50 most-visited for sharing
websites. Their impact on shared food experiences is
significant: one-third of female cooks consider it important Top motivations for sharing recipes include: attractive
for food websites to provide opportunities to share recipes photos (79%), cook plans to make the recipe (78%),
on social sites (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest). recipe has positive peer ratings/reviews (75%).
Fast Features
Insight 6: “Dish recommendations”
at Your Fingertips Up
1,210%
Community
ratings
Digital
shopping list,
menu planner,
When asked to choose only one cooking resource to use Expected recipe scaling
for the rest of their lives, half of home cooks selected food website
cooking websites (44%), followed by cookbooks (19%), features Up
and parents (9%). Use of cooking websites has surged 558% Up more
207% in 15 years. than
300%
Preferred Cooking Resource
Cooking websites In Allrecipes’ “Then and Now” survey, many of the
44% features cooks expect to find on food websites showed
Cookbooks strong growth. The fastest movers included “dish
19%
recommendations,” up 1,210% in 2012 compared to 1999,
My mom or dad
9% community ratings up 558%, while digital shopping list,
Printed recipe cards menu planner and the ability to scale serving amounts all
7% increased more than 300%.
from family/friends
Insight 7: Show Me the Recipe
The widespread availability of free cooking resources Do recipes make
on computers and mobile devices has increased cooks’ cooking simpler?
appetites for using recipes. According to a 2012 survey,
16% of home cooks are now using recipes all the time 73% say
when cooking, up from just 9% (80% growth) 13 years ago. YES
Surprisingly, even though it’s easier to find recipes today,
recipes haven’t simplified cooking as much as one would
expect. Only 35% of cooks responded positively when
asked whether recipes make cooking easier, compared 35% say
with 73% of cooks who responded positively to this same
YES
question in 1999.
1999 2012
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then & Now 3

4. Insight 8: Organic Goes Mainstream
Today, the majority of home cooks (58%) report Home cooks picking
picking recipes where they can use organic and recipes where they can
natural ingredients, an increase of 66% since use organic and natural
1999. This represents a rise in the collective ingredients
consciousness of home cooks who are looking 58%
closely at food labels (59%), and shopping for
locally-sourced ingredients (62%). Interestingly,
only 44% report being very health conscious 35%
and always eating healthfully. Perhaps home
cooks are using organic shredded cheese and
veggies from their local farmers’ market to
make a cheesy lasagna, followed by pre-
packaged but all-natural cookies? 1999 2012
Insight 9: Changing Challenges
for Dinnertime
Families with kids say finding time is one of the hardest parts
of getting dinner on the table: 22% for households with
kids, vs. 16% for those without. To mitigate this, home cooks
with children at home are much more tech-savvy than their
childless counterparts, leveraging digital devices and tools to
get things done quicker and easier. Home cooks with children
are 76% more likely to have created a shopping list on their
mobile device, 56% more likely to look at a digital shopping
list in store and 73% more likely to have redeemed a digital
coupon on a mobile device than families without children.
Insight 10:
y
10% sa an 67% say
Where Fridge and cost i
s
le
up
243% home cooking
is cheaper
obstac
!
Wallet Intersect up 133
%
In 1999, the U.S. economy was happily in the black, the I lov
68% want recipe allrecip e
average median household income was up 10%, and es.com
only 3% of home cooks reported cost as the hardest website coupons
part of getting dinner on the table. Today, cost has
increased 243% as the hardest part of getting dinner
on the table. The solutions? Sixty-seven percent say
they cook at home because it’s cheaper than eating
out (up 9%) and 68% believe it’s important that recipe
websites offer coupons (up 133%).
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then & Now 4

5. Internet
Insight 11:
Dining Delivers  1999 Survey

Product Packaging +508%
 2012 Survey
Recipe sites are now the most frequently used
Internet sites +207%
recipe resource for home cooks (86%), surging 207%
Newspapers -9%
Magazines +21%
Relatives +136%
from 1999, eclipsing cookbooks (66%), magazines
Cookbooks -1%
Friends +148%
(53%), and even friends (43%). Over the past 15
years, the use of recipe websites has evolved from
an occasional diversion, catering primarily to hard-
core foodies, to a must-have everyday resource for
the majority of American home cooks. Cooks today
visit websites and food blogs (now estimated to
number more than 164 million worldwide) covering
all types of cooking styles, dietary needs, regional
cuisines and food passions.
Insight 12: Generational Joys of Cooking
Whether or not you like to cook may have more
My kitchen is always to do with your age than culinary preferences.
34% 47% 55%
well stocked As cooks move through life stages, motivations
I am very health conscious
for cooking change. To illustrate, today’s Millennials
52% 39% 47% see cooking as optional, fun, and exploratory;
and always try to eat healthfully
for mid-life, family-focused Gen Xers, it’s a must;
I regularly read while for today’s Baby Boomers in more diet-
ingredients on packages 47% 56% 63%
restricted stages of life, cooking is less frequent
I am cooking more than with less freedom.
69% 52% 41%
I have in the past
I really enjoy cooking 87% 75% 78%  Millennial  Gen X  Baby Boomer
Insight 13: More Tools Mean More Time
Digital tools continue to make meal planning easier. Said “finding time to plan and cook” was the most
When asked in 1999 what was the most difficult thing difficult thing about getting dinner on the table
about getting dinner on the table, 29% said “finding time
to plan and cook.” Today this number has dropped 39%
as home cooks use websites and mobile phones to find
recipes and menus quickly and easily, make organized
shopping lists on the fly, and download coupons with the
click of a button. Home cooks also report a 212% increase
since 1999 in the importance of recipe websites offering
menus and meal planning solutions.
29% in 1999 down 39% in 2012
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then & Now 5

6. Super
Insight 14:
Fast, Super Local
Top 15 Recipes
and Superstores of All Time
Supermarkets look nothing like they did 15 years ago. Large chains are
devoting more and more space to hot, ready-to-eat food, local farmers’
markets are a part of every city’s weekend landscape, and superstores 1. orld’s Best
W
that sell everything from electronics to produce are Lasagna
sprouting up around every corner. Yet with all these (14M page views)
options, when comparing 2012 with 1999,
24% more consumers say shopping for
ingredients is the hardest part about 2012 2. anana Banana Bread
B
getting dinner on the table. (13.5M page views)
3. ood Old-Fashioned Pancakes
G
(13M page views)
1999
4. asy Sugar Cookies
E
24% increase (
11M page views)
5. wesome Slow Cooker
A
Pot Roast
(10M page views)
There’s an
Insight 15:
6. The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
(9.5M page views)
App for That 7. asic Crepes
B
(8.5M page views)
One word describes the future of meal planning: digital. The grocery 8. est Chocolate Chip Cookies
B
shopping experience is being revolutionized as consumers turn to devices (8M page views)
to help them plan meals, create lists and shop. In the last decade, retail-
ers have introduced savings and loyalty cards, eliminating the need to clip 9. hicken Pot Pie IX
C
(7.5M page views)
coupons from the weekly flyer. When polled, 90% of consumers believe
15 years from now printed coupons will be extinct. Eighty-two percent of 10. uffalo Chicken Dip
B
respondents also believe they will be paying with their mobile device, and (7M page views)
64% of consumers believe groceries will be delivered direct to their door-
step which, ironically, means the future might hold a return of the milkman.
11. Easy Meatloaf
(7M page views)
15 years into the future...
12. Carrot Cake III
(6.5M page views)
13. ream Cheese Frosting II
C
(6M page views)
14. est Big Fat Chewy
B
Chocolate Chip Cookie
90% believe 82% plan to 64% believe (6M page views)
the printed coupon pay with mobile groceries will be
will be extinct device delivered
15. Alfredo Sauce
(5.5M page views)
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then Now 6

7. About Allrecipes.com Methodology
Allrecipes, the world’s largest digital food brand, receives 750 Data provided is from an online survey of
million annual visits from family-focused women who connect 1,020 U.S-based panel participants and
and inspire one another through photos, reviews, videos and 1,208 Allrecipes community members in
blog posts. Since its launch in 1997, the Seattle-based social site July 2012. No incentives were used to re-
has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all ward or incent participation. The survey
skill levels seeking trusted recipes, entertaining ideas, everyday questions were based on questions from
and holiday meal solutions and practical cooking tips. Allrecipes Allrecipes’ 1999 Motivations survey, to
is a global, multiplatform brand providing insights into the lives provide food and technology trend data
of women everywhere based on activity from 17 websites, 17 for the past 13 years. For more information
mobile sites, 9 mobile apps, and 14 eBooks serving 22 countries on survey methodology such as response
in 11 languages. Allrecipes is part of Meredith Corporation, the counts for each question or details on
leading media and marketing company serving American women. question order or format, please feel free
For additional information regarding Meredith, please visit www. to contact us.
meredith.com. For additional information regarding Allrecipes,
please visit http://press.allrecipes.com.
Please Contact:
Stephanie Robinett
Director, Communications
206.708.9271
stephanier@allrecipes.com
Allrecipes.com Measuring Cup 1997 — 2012 Then Now 7