For Subscribers

Publishing Trend for 2014: A New Demand for Eye-Catching Cookbooks Cookbooks' resurgence in popularity reflects a broadening of our food culture, spurred by the rise of food TV.

By Corie Brown

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Publishing

The bells have been tolling for hardback books for years, but for cookbooks--suffering from the proliferation of online recipe databases--it has been more of a clanging gong. In fact, in June 2012, webzine Slate declared the "impending extinction" of cookbooks.

Not so fast. The smart set has turned out to be publishers who bet that the generation that expects everything for free online would pay top dollar to learn how to make dinner special. "Young people are excited about being involved in food," says Daniel Halpern, co-founder of Ecco, which recently launched a food imprint run by chef, author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain.

The demand reflects a broadening of our food culture, spurred by the rise of food TV. "There is passion, interest, energy," Halpern says. "I've been doing this since the 1970s. This is not a fad. People have to eat, and now they want to eat well."

It took discerning consumers a few years of swimming through the ocean of mediocre-to-bad online recipes before they became frustrated with "free," according to Bill LeBlond, editorial director of food and drink at independent publisher Chronicle Books. Now they are eagerly snapping up well-curated, smartly illustrated recipe collections by celebrated chefs, food innovators and a handful of popular young bloggers. Among the hottest topics are vegetables and the Paleo Diet.

The big news is what is happening at the top of the hardback-cookbook market.

Cookbooks have become "objects of desire," says Aaron Wehner, publisher of Ten Speed Press, an imprint of The Crown Publishing Group/Penguin Random House, and a leader in the cookbook revival. The more beautiful the book, the better the sales. "Our approach is to lavish attention on the visual," Wehner says. "We are investing more in the photography, design and finish of our books."

Ten Speed has been on a roll for a decade, but the "last two or three years have been super strong," he says. Without providing numbers, Chronicle claims 2013 is one of its best years ever for cookbook sales.

Indeed, at press time, 14 of the year's 25 bestselling cookbooks were hardbacks priced at $20 or higher that sold more than 30,000 copies each, according to Nielsen BookScan. This year's bestseller, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten ($35; Clarkson Potter/Random House), had topped sales of 132,000 at press time.

Paperback cookbooks with spare illustrations are not faring as well as the unapologetically sophisticated hardcover tomes. Wiley, once a leader in paperback cookbooks, stopped publishing them last year, leaving more room for the highbrow Ecco imprint. Other publishers have cut back their cookbook releases dramatically.

Elissa Altman, editor-at-large for cookbooks at health and wellness publisher Rodale Books, says she has listened for some time to the gnashing of teeth over Epicurious.com and the proliferation of food bloggers but "never bought it. Things were changing, not dying." With the internet providing a steady stream of attractive everyday food fare, the bottom dropped out of the market for mundane books. And that wasn't a bad thing, Altman says--it forced book publishers who want to stay in business to "step up to the plate."

Gradually, publishers have realized that there are new opportunities in cookbooks and food books in general.

"We have become a food-focused culture. The smallest town in Kentucky has a new cafe serving local food to food groupies," Altman says. "It is an absolutely bigger audience that is getting bigger and bigger."


More from Trends 2014

Inside Breuckelen Distilling's Labor of Love
Moss of the Month Club? 15 Unique Subscription Services
Publishing Trend for 2014: A New Demand for Eye-Catching Cookbooks
Investing Trend for 2014: Equity Crowdfunding
Employment Trend for 2014: Miserable Millennials
Global Startup Trend for 2014: Consider Brazil
Fashion Trend for 2014: Country Couture on the Rise
Ecommerce Trend for 2014: Buying Into the Subscription Service Model
Entertainment Trend for 2014: Low-Budget Movies=Big Business
Food and Beverage Trend for 2014: The Rise of Craft Distilleries
Tech Trend for 2014: The Risk in BYOD Offices

Corie Brown is a co-founder and general manager of Zester Media, an award-winning destination for food, wine, and travel enthusiasts. A former editor and writer with the Los Angeles Times, Corie was West Coast entertainment correspondent with Newsweek and a columnist for Premiere Magazine. On staff with BusinessWeek in Boston and other McGraw-Hill publications in New York City and Washington, D.C., she has written about energy, the environment and healthcare. She is a frequent contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine and the author of Start Your Own Microbrewery, Distillery, and Cidery (Entrepreneur Press, June 2015).

 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

After a 12-Year-Old's Side Hustle Made Over $4,000 in 1 Day, He and His Dad Grew the Business to Nearly $50,000 a Month: 'It Takes Commitment'

Madden Forrest and his father, Steven, turned their passion for football into a lucrative business.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Here Are the 10 Highest-Paying Jobs For New Graduates With a Bachelor's Degree — and They All Start at Six Figures

According to a new report from Resume Genius, finding a high-paying job as a new grad is possible, even in this market.

Leadership

Lead From the Top: 5 Core Responsibilities of a CEO

Knowing exactly what the chief executive's role entails is critical for steering a company to success.

Business News

10 Surprising and Inspiring Quotes From Brian Wilson, the Genius Behind The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds'

The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson died this week at age 82, but his music is still blowing minds.

Side Hustle

Use This AI-Powered Platform to Turn Your Side Hustle into a Scalable Business

Turn a side hustle into something sustainable with Sellful's ERP White Label plan.