Taste of Home magazine

[JAZ]

The magazine Taste of Home was mentioned in one of the recent magazine threads here, and since the IACP quarterly newsletter had a short article on the magazine, I thought I'd share some of the information it provided.

Taste of Home, as previously noted, rarely shows up on lists of circulation because it carries no ads. But, according to this article, it has the amazing circulation of 4.6 million (more than Bon, F&W and Gourmet combined). It actually ranks 8th in circulation for all consumer magazines, right below Family Circle and Good Housekeeping.

The demographics are interesting: the average age of subscribers is 60; only 30.5 percent work full time (13 percent of subscribers are male, which apparently is pretty high for a cooking magazine). North Dakota leads the pack in number of subscribers, followed by Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin, where the magazine is based.

Recipes for the magazine are provided by an unpaid staff of "field editors" -- 1,000 home cooks from all 50 states and Canada (none from New York City). The in-house (paid) staff numbers seven, who also work on other publications.

Taste of Home began publishing in 1993 as a spin-off of Country Magazine. It has subsequently spun off two other pubs -- Quick Cooking and Light & Tasty, (which have circulations of 3.2 million and 1.2 million, respectively). The company also sells Taste of Home products, sponsors a traveling cooking school, and this year held its first Cooking Expo (6,500 people pre-registered for the event).

The parent company, Reiman Publications (with 12 publications total), was recently acquired by Reader's Digest Association for $760 million.

[IrishCream]

Wow...someone is making a bundle of money. I bought the magazine once. The recipes reminded me of Junior League cookbooks, et al. Don't get me wrong...I have cooked many good recipes from community cookbooks...the River Road series from Louisiana comes to mind. The Pasadena (CA) J. L. also has a couple very good cookbooks. And my favorite peach cobbler recipe comes from a TX Hill Country collection. But....the mag struck me as very simplistic in its recipes. It lacks the geographic and historical connection that makes a community cookbook interesting.

[Marlene]

Wow...someone is making a bundle of money.  I bought the magazine once.  The recipes reminded me of Junior League cookbooks, et al.  Don't get me wrong...I have cooked many good recipes from community cookbooks...the River Road series from Louisiana comes to mind.  The Pasadena (CA) J. L. also has a couple very good cookbooks.  And my favorite peach cobbler recipe comes from a TX Hill Country collection.  But....the mag struck me as very simplistic in its recipes.  It lacks the geographic and historical connection that makes a community cookbook interesting.

I subscribe to both Taste of Home and Quick Cooking. For the most part, these recipes are for the average cook, certainly not for an expert who might view them as being simplistic. Generally speaking, the recipes are not complicated. The pros for the mag are no advertising, and they have pictures of every dish which is nice. I've gotten a ton of great tasting recipes from them including a wonderful Sesame Pork Tenderloin. The quick cooking magazine is really full of helpful recipes for cooks on the run, aimed mostly at working moms.

edited to add: they also have a discussion board on their website for cooks to share recipes and ask questions.

Edited February 7, 2003 by Marlene (log)

[stellabella]

I never saw the previous post mentioning Taste of Home, JAZ. Thanks for posting this info. It doesn't surprise me. One of my great aunts subscribes my older sister to this magazine, and she sent me a complimentary copy. My sister cooks out of it all the time, and most of the dishes I tasted were fine, and they sure looked better on the table than they do in the photos. I made a sour cream chocolate cake from it that was okay. I also clipped a coupe recipes for my book--it's a good source for those lardy down-home favorites that you occasionally crave--ie, comfort food.

I would describe this as "home" or "kuntry" cooking. My primary objection to the magazine is aesthetic--the photography is really horrible. I thought at first that it was simply a budgetary constraint, but now I think it's just what people will settle for. My mom gave me their annual "cookbook" for Xmas and I had to stifle my laughter--my mom means well . I know I come off sounding elitist about it, but again, the photos of the food are just awful.

But what I do like about it is that is contains no ads, and it features real "cooks"--and here the distinction between cook and chef is important. There's also a bizarre section in each issue--how to feed a family of four for $1.97--or something along those lines. From a sociological perspective, it's really depressing, especially because the people who use this mag are probably not truly poor--the "cheap" menus feature lots of fatty ground beef, processed cheese and macaroni.

[Marlene]

IMy primary objection to the magazine is aesthetic--the photography is really horrible.

That's true, but one can at least get a "sense" of what the dish is supposed to look like. There are a couple of weird sections in the mag, including the one you mentioned, and i'd agree, it's "kuntry" cooking.

[claire797]

I subscribed to Taste of Home for a year and have saved each issue. Occasionally, when I'm looking for a real "homey" type recipe or something I can throw together with ingredients I have on hand, I'll thumb through and pick something. Every recipe I've tried from TOH has been a success.

Why did I cancel my subscription to Taste of Home? Because reading it made me feel like a buffoon. The content is incredibly hokey and the tone is somewhat patronizing. Ick, ick, ick.

If I need a really good recipe, I can usually find it on the web. Part of the fun of reading magazines is reading the articles, looking at ads (some) and reading about the recipes.

What I especially hate about Taste of Home is how they glorify men in the kitchen. So what!

[ideefixe]

While I wouldn't subscribe, I think it's important to remember that there's a whole section of home cooks who are intimidated by the more high-powered, glossy food and lifestyle mags. And where plenty of women who work "pink collar" jobs would like to get back to cooking like mom, they don't get much support from the media that shoves fast food with one hand and "gourmet" cooking with the other.

Edited February 10, 2003 by ideefixe (log)

[Hopleaf]

While I wouldn't subscribe, I think it's important to remember that there's a whole section of home cooks who are intimidated by the more high-powered, glossy food and lifestyle mags. And where plenty of women who work "pink collar" jobs would like to get back to cooking like mom, they don't get much support from the media that shoves fast food with one hand and "gourmet" cooking with the other.

That is an excellent point, ideefixe.

It's one of the things I try to keep in mind when working on the cookbooks I edit. They're branded recipes that often utilize convenience items but mostly they just highlight products that the average joe is already buying and showing them how to put a good-tasting meal together using one of those products. Frequently my books go straight to the bargain shelves. And at first, I balked at this concept and wanted to do more "high-end" stuff. Eventually, I came to realize that the kind of cookbooks we put out, while not exactly belonging on the same shelf as, say, The French Laundry Cookbook, do definitely serve a purpose and at the very least get people cooking. And whether you're making a mornay sauce from scratch and mixing it up with pasta, or melting a block of Velveeta and mixing it up with pasta, it's still better than opening a box and mixing in the flavoring packet. Anyway, that's the way I look at it.

And I don't think this applies only to women. Wouldn't you say there're more men cooking now than ever before? Food has sort of bridged the gender gap, not to mention the collar gap...pink, blue or white.

[claire797]

While I wouldn't subscribe, I think it's important to remember that there's a whole section of home cooks who are intimidated by the more high-powered, glossy food and lifestyle mags. And where plenty of women who work "pink collar" jobs would like to get back to cooking like mom, they don't get much support from the media that shoves fast food with one hand and "gourmet" cooking with the other.

True. But I still find their content patronizing and banal.

[suzilightning]

we added this to our subscriptions at work last year. so far we subscribe/ed(since our magazine vendor went out of business we don't know what we are subscribed to) bon appetite, food and wine, gourmet, saveur and taste of home( we have several of their sister publications). these are actually some of our best circulating items( though let's not talk about how much they are vandalized - so sad in a public library where you can borrow them after the current month is over!!! )

[Hopleaf]

Does anyone know how this magazine turns a profit? If there are no ads, where's the money coming from? And don't tell me they rely on subscription and newstand sales...I've always understood that these sales were so minimal that they wouldn't help offset cost and that ads were how mags made money.

[Dave the Cook]

Does anyone know how this magazine turns a profit? If there are no ads, where's the money coming from? And don't tell me they rely on subscription and newstand sales...I've always understood that these sales were so minimal that they wouldn't help offset cost and that ads were how mags made money.

It's possible that they make money by actually selling the magazine -- Cook's Illustrated seems to manage, and don't forget Consumer Reports . But Taste of Home might be selling what amounts to a well-qualified and defined subscriber list to other companies.

Edit to clarify: I am not suggesting the CI or CR sell their lists. They probably have specific policies that eschew or severely limit this practice. I don't even know if ToH is -- it's just speculation on my part.

Edited February 11, 2003 by Dave the Cook (log)

[Hopleaf]

CI seems to manage by charging a whopping $30 for six issues. Not sure what ToH charges, but it can't possibly be that high. Not sure about Consumer Reports.

[Dave the Cook]

Taste of Home is $15/year.

Reiman Publications, publisher of ToH, has ten other magazines, all catering to the same demographic. They also run a cooking school, which is supported by sponsorships, and a "country store," which is fed by the web sites of all the magazines. So they're pulling in revenue from several different sources, and I think the magazines are simply a vehicle to gain access to this audience, which may be underserved by slicker pubs that cover the same issues on a more elite level.

Further to the mailing list issue, this is from their privacy policy:

If you supply us with your postal address or e-mail address, you may receive periodic mailings from us about new products, services or upcoming events. Likewise, if you provide us with your telephone number, we may contact you by telephone regarding your on-line order.

From time to time, your postal address or e-mail address may be made available to other reputable companies that we think may have a product or service you’d be interested in. However, you have the right to request that your name, postal address or e-mail address not be shared with any other business.

In other words, it's an "opt-out" policy. Miss the little check boxes on the subscription form, and your mailbox (e- and snail) are likely to be flooded with offers from who knows where.

BTW, CI is only $25/year; CR is $26.

[JAZ]

Does anyone know how this magazine turns a profit? If there are no ads, where's the money coming from? And don't tell me they rely on subscription and newstand sales...I've always understood that these sales were so minimal that they wouldn't help offset cost and that ads were how mags made money.

In addition to what Dave mentioned (the TOH products for sale and a traveling cooking show), there's also the new Taste of Home Cooking Expo. I mentioned this in my original post, but didn't include expand on it. With 45 exhibitors from Campbell Soup and Kraft to Chef's Catalog, I imagine this expo generates major revenue.

Also, keep in mind that these magazines are published with a very small staff -- seven full time employees, who also work on other publications. All of their photography is done in house as well, so they have incredibly low overhead.

[Dave the Cook]

Also, keep in mind that these magazines are published with a very small staff -- seven full time employees, who also work on other publications. All of their photography is done in house as well, so they have incredibly low overhead.

And in the case of Taste of Home, anyway, much of the research and recipe development is done by their readers -- for free.

[Hopleaf]

Taste of Home is $15/year.

Reiman Publications, publisher of ToH, has ten other magazines, all catering to the same demographic. They also run a cooking school, which is supported by sponsorships, and a "country store," which is fed by the web sites of all the magazines. So they're pulling in revenue from several different sources, and I think the magazines are simply a vehicle to gain access to this audience, which may be underserved by slicker pubs that cover the same issues on a more elite level.

Further to the mailing list issue, this is from their privacy policy:

If you supply us with your postal address or e-mail address, you may receive periodic mailings from us about new products, services or upcoming events. Likewise, if you provide us with your telephone number, we may contact you by telephone regarding your on-line order.

From time to time, your postal address or e-mail address may be made available to other reputable companies that we think may have a product or service you’d be interested in. However, you have the right to request that your name, postal address or e-mail address not be shared with any other business.

In other words, it's an "opt-out" policy. Miss the little check boxes on the subscription form, and your mailbox (e- and snail) are likely to be flooded with offers from who knows where.

BTW, CI is only $25/year; CR is $26.

CI's annual subscription of 6 issues is $29.70 (I rounded up). The $25 price is their promo rate.

The thing I still don't get is how does THIS magazine turn a profit? you can't tell me that they're taking profits out of the ten other magazines and the cooking school, et al, to cover costs on ToH. That's ludicrous. What's the benefit of even publishing this magazine if it depletes from other profit generators?

And only having seven staff members obviously reduces some cost, but I'm still wondering about the vast cost of actually producing the mag...printing, postage, etc.

[Dave the Cook]

I'm not sure why you find this so hard to believe. At 80% paid subscriptions, they're taking in more than $55MM off this one magazine. You can bet with a 4.6 MM press run, they're getting rock-bottom prices for paper, printing and postage. It may not make huge amounts of money, but if relatively small mags like CI and CR can do it, ToH probabaly can, too. Anyway, if it only breaks even, that's OK, because it has created an audience -- millions of loyal readers with known tastes, finances and desires. It makes for a deep well.

Like CI and CR, the magazine itself is just the start, All of three of these publications have spin-off merchandise (mainly books, but Reiman appears to have all kinds of ways to get into your wallet) that is probably more profitable. But the scheme doesn't work unless you've got the audience to begin with. That's where the mag comes in.

On top of this, Reiman can rent that subscription list (at $50 and up per thousand names) to other retailers. And with a list that big, they can slice and dice it a bunch of different ways (at premium rates) to get just about any demographic you could want.

You're right about CI's sub rate. But a promo that's always available is not a promo at all -- only tourists would pay more. I've never paid more than $25.

[Marlene]

ToH also publishes every other month not montly. Quick Cooking publishes in the other months.

[Hopleaf]

when you do the math (never my forté) it makes more sense. But where do you get 80% subscription rate? I missed that.

[Dave the Cook]

But where do you get 80% subscription rate? I missed that.

I pulled it out of my you-know-what.

Not every magazine that gets printed gets paid for; there's always freebies. For example, ToH invites you to send a free issue to a friend, and I'd bet a lot of issues get sent to subscribers of the other Reiman mags. Other freebies might go to the trades or the press, but that's probably not much in this case. 80% is probably too low.

Still, it's an astounding amount of money for not a lot of work. And now that Marlene has pointed out that they only publish six times a year, I'm sure they've got a decent margin. If each finished magazine costs $1.50 to produce, add -- what, 25 cents for postage? I don't really know-- you get gross profits in the range of $7 - 10 million.

[JAZ]

Still, it's an astounding amount of money for not a lot of work. And now that Marlene has pointed out that they only publish six times a year, I'm sure they've got a decent margin. If each finished magazine costs $1.50 to produce, add -- what, 25 cents for postage? I don't really know-- you get gross profits in the range of $7 - 10 million.

I just pulled out the article again, which reports that Reiman posted 2001 revenues of $300 million (total, not just from TOH). And you gotta figure that if Reader's Digest just paid $760 million for Reiman, they must think it's a money-maker.

[Marlene]

And you gotta figure that if Reader's Digest just paid $760 million for Reiman, they must think it's a money-maker.

They did?!

[Chris Amirault]

Click here for a recent NPR story on the magazine.

[cathrynapple]

i have the christmas issue...or...something like that...it says taste of home and it's thicker and ncier than the regular issues...and it's a HUGE step up from the normal magazines. more gourmet and interesting. just fyi.