HelloFresh x Culinary Content Creators
This post is out of left field for me, but this product idea has been ruminating in my head for a while and I want to stress test it.
As with all product ideas, this starts with a story:
I’ve always enjoyed watching cooking shows. I’ve binged my share of Master Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, but I hardly ever watched culinary content on YouTube. I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy eating more, but culinary YouTube was never my go to.
This changed when the mighty YouTube algorithm suggested the Ancient Babylonian Lamb Stew video by Tasting History with Max Miller. I’m someone with ancestry from the region, and I found it interesting to see the foods of my ancestors. It provided me with a connection to my past that I didn’t think was possible. They do say food is the way to the heart. The episode was great. It provided a mixture of education and entertainment. This got me hooked, and I became a fan. I was further intrigued by the Titanic series that chronicled the foods offered to the passengers.
The Titanic has captured the public’s imagination ever since James Cameron produced one of the highest grossing films of all time. The series covered the meals and stories of real passengers. This brought out a human aspect of the now mythologized event. After watching a few, I wanted to recreate some of the meals for myself. I soon faced many hurdles. Much of the ingredients were needed in small amounts, and the prep work became daunting. So, I gave up.
After watching other videos, I noticed that HelloFresh was a sponsor. It clicked! HelloFresh provides meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients and easy to follow instructions. If I wanted to have my Titanic meal in an approachable manner, HelloFresh could make it happen. I can receive my meal kit at home with ingredients and instructions all laid out for me. They could provide me a link to the episode that goes through the steps and talks about the meal. I could one day have my Titanic meal after all!
While this is a specific example, the approach is open to many food creators. A HelloFresh partnership that is deeper than a sponsorship would yield greater engagement and create an intriguing product that can bring in fans to try HelloFresh through these collaborations.
As a business case, this is a novel approach to customer acquisition and a source of revenue. The product can be offered as an introductory bonus to new customers and as a special plus meal for existing subscribers. Content creators are chosen based on subscriber count and activity. This will require building stronger relationships with content creators as they become collaborators. A revenue sharing model or royalty program with the content creators would be beneficiary as it provides them a stake in the success of the partnership. For HelloFresh, the key metrics of success would be CAC and CLV. Assessing CAC payback for developing and shipping these meals would determine the viability of this product.
