Quarantined consumers are turning to online cooking classes to either learn new skills out of necessity, or further skills that until March they didn’t have time for.
Subscribers to America’s Test Kitchen’s online cooking school have increased by 140 percent since March. Many are lured in by the three-week free trial period, said Christie Morrison, deputy editor, culinary content and curriculum. There tend to be two types of students: those who have never cooked before and those who want to “dive deeper” with their skills.
Favorite courses include pizza, breads, and comfort food, but there’s also interest in classes that sharpen knife skills. “It’s both basic and aspirational cooking,” she pointed out. She and the ATK team frequently add new classes, and she loves feeling “we can provide something that helps people feel better or more normal or more able to deal with the situation.”
Online culinary school Rouxbe (pronounced “Ruby”) has also extended its free trial period, “because we knew a lot of people would have a need,” said chief culinary officer, Ken Rubin. “We’ve seen a significant uptick in people accepting that 30-day offer and we’re starting to see conversions of that to paid memberships.”
Rouxbe offers lessons and courses, with the latter being much more of a time commitment but offering discipline and structure, which is lacking in many people’s lives these days, he said.
The most popular is the plant-based program since many people are seeking out Rouxbe in order to eat more healthfully. Egg courses and seafood classes are also well-liked, Rubin said.
“We’re all about getting people to turn on their cooking brain and make better decisions, have more confidence, and feel less reliant on a book,” Rubin said.
It’s not just adults looking to expand their culinary repertoire. Raddish Kids caters online to younger cooks, which is a turnaround for a company that offers in-person classes and camps. It’s been offering free lessons on Facebook since the pandemic started and this summer is offering online camps, for limited numbers of kids, held real time via Zoom, with themes such as Restaurant Camp and Around the World Camp.
“We realized this was truly a good opportunity for us because kids would be cooking more and people would have time,” said founder Samantha Barnes. “All the reasons families don’t eat together have been lifted and restaurants are closed. So we thought we’ve got to produce resources and content for families to engage together.”
Cakeflix offers classes in baking and decorating cakes, attracting mostly beginners, but some professionals, too. Classes teach students how to create certain cakes made to look like flowers and teddy bears. “The more eye catching or challenging the design, the more views and engagement,” said founder David Brice.
Going forward, he expects business to remain brisk. “Hobby and craft businesses tend to do well in a recession as those made redundant [from their jobs] look to retrain or use it as an opportunity to follow their dreams.”
Related: US Online Grocery Sales to Grow 40 Percent in 2020; Denny's Offers Meal Kits, Grocery Delivery.
Photo: Rouxbe
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