Few categories have seen as much growth and increased competition in the past few years as food and meal delivery (thanks Covid). But in just over one year, Toronto-based Cookin has created a platform that enables vendors to retain an unheard of 80% of their revenue, garnered applications from thousands of chefs, and received the support of Michelin Star chefs–ultimately building a brand that secured partnerships with American Express and Sobeys.
Whereas traditional food delivery marketplaces like DoorDash and UberEats secured popular mainstream restaurants, Cookin aims to offer authentic, personalized meals that can’t be found anywhere else. Operating as a middleman, the platform allows local chefs to operate a small business out of their home kitchen, creating their own menu and setting their own prices, before a courier delivers the finished product directly to the consumer. A lot of the chefs use family recipes that have been passed down through generations.
The main selling point is simple: nothing beats a homemade meal. To communicate the care and quality that goes into Cookin’s food production, the brand equips its chefs with the resources needed to build their own social presence and share the personal stories of their culinary passion. The result is an enthusiastic consumer base that gets to engage with the chefs making their meals through multiple touch points.
It's all managed by a small in-house team led by high school friends Michael Baruch and Morley Ivers, who bonded over aspirations for entrepreneurship, and went on to build careers building and growing startups. With plans to build a global consumer brand, starting with expansion into the U.S, Cookin has a small but lean marketing team of five people, headed by director of marketing, James Rutledge.
He joined Cookin to build and lead the brand after four years at home automation company ecobee. One year into his new role, he was promoted to director of marketing.
His team is responsible for brand strategy, design, social, technical lifecycle marketing, customer acquisition, events and programs, while specialized support is outsourced to a network of freelancers. “While we’ve explored and considered working with traditional external help, keeping everything in-house means we’ve been able to learn from our customers and chefs first-hand, enabling us to refine our marketing efforts in real-time," he said.
After Cookin’s first four months in business, they pivoted from their original branding and launched a new brand identity supported by an integrated brand campaign across Toronto with OOH, video ads, audio, and social.
Nhi Tran led the visual design, and freelance designer and type artist Nathan Holthus was tasked with designing the goopy, signature-style wordmark.
In a behind-the-scenes instagram post, Holthus explained that the Cookin team wanted the wordmark to achieve a high level of technical functionality, without losing its human touch. The new brand launched with a content series called "Tastemakers," in which food personalities talk about why the world needs more home-cooked meals. The first episode starred Cookin’s Carolyn Tanner Cohen, who recruits chefs to the platform.
“More than one-third of our customers have told us that they’ve specifically chosen to order from Cookin because it’s a way to support a local chef,” said Rutledge. “At the centre of great food is great people, and that's ultimately what our brand positioning is all about: celebrating the personal touches that make home cooking so special.”
To achieve this position, Cookin’s marketing team has to attract two different groups—cooks and customers. The messaging directed at customers is that they have the ability to support local individuals and empower them to build a business, while discovering the most diverse and authentic food that can be home delivered. The strategy for cooks is more tactical: free rein to build a business—set their own prices, build their own menu—while Cookin takes care of the logistic challenges and capital costs, explained Rutledge.
The brand has tested various marketing channels in its first year of business, including OOH and radio, but has found the most success in paid and organic social. Targeting a specific geographic area, Cookin leverages its diverse cook base by providing content to the chefs so they can grow their own marketing channels.
“We're really just a platform that enables them to tell meaningful stories,” said Rutledge. “And we're finding that a more authentic content creation ends up driving better comprehension and ultimately better performance on the platform.” Cookin’s team members also star in social ads, including Rutledge himself (seen here eating Vietnamese fresh rolls made by a Cookin chef).
In March, Cookin announced its first corporate sponsorship with American Express Canada, a partnership based on a shared mission to support local businesses and a desire to offer exclusive, personal food experiences to the financial services company's customers.
The initial offering gave eligible cardmembers in Toronto the opportunity to earn a $50 credit with Cookin. The marketing team then launched a four-part experiential activation for American Express card members called “Classes by Cookin,” in which chefs from the platform taught a cooking lesson, followed by a unique dining event.
Most recently, Cookin launched “Resident Chef by Cookin,” an exclusive curated dining program for American Express card holders. The experience is hosted by a notable celebrity chef at their restaurant, and supported by a Cookin chef who has been voted in by the Cookin community to take up residency and influence the menu.
The inaugural event will feature advisory board member and chef Patrick Kriss, as well as Sand Tsoi, the Cookin chef who operates the marketplace's Baan Thai store. While the first iteration is exclusively tailored to American Express customers, Rutledge said the team has long term plans to deliver similar events and programming.
This month, Cookin announced its second partnership with Sobeys Inc, with the continued aim of elevating local chefs to build and scale their businesses, while celebrating Toronto’s diverse food scene. “We have this uniquely shared mission, in that Sobeys is deeply committed to supporting local,” said Rutledge. "They're looking to constantly find new local suppliers, and although we're not suppliers, this is an extension of that mission.”
“When it comes to families and friends bonding over meals, we couldn’t be more enthusiastic to support creative and talented Cookin chefs,” said Sobeys head of corporate strategy and development, Julie van Wyck, in a release. “This new partnership will help the Toronto culinary community thrive, highlight our incredible products and is aligned with our passion for local, fresh and multicultural offerings.”
Sobeys and Cookin customers will have access to exclusive offers and content. Similar to the American Express partnership, Rutledge said the team is seeking to create programs and marketing activations that will benefit both the Sobeys’ and Cookin communities, though it was too soon to share specifics.
“This is all just the beginning,” said Rutledge. “Expect more exciting brand partnerships as we grow, all in an effort to empower our chefs and grow the Cookin community.”
