ckbk Launches ‘Spotify For Cookbooks’ Service, Unlocking 80,000+ Print Recipes and Delivering Big-Data IoT Analytics for the Smart Kitchen
Launch Partners Include Chronicle Books, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Workman Publishing;
Integration with Smart Appliances from NEFF
September 12th, 2019 – London – Following a successful Kickstarter campaign and extensive pre-launch testing by these early backers, the ckbk platform is now available to both home cooks and professional chefs.
ckbk is designed for anyone seeking the most sought-after recipes from bestselling cookbooks — both new releases and out-of-print classics — with an ever-growing catalog that includes the full content of more than 350 cookbooks (80,000+ recipes). ckbk provides data-driven metrics and behavioral analytics for publishers and allows kitchen-oriented brands to deliver premium lifestyle content to their IoT (Internet of Things)-enhanced appliances.
ckbk offers instant, unlimited access from any device, to a curated collection of cookbooks selected using recommendations from hundreds of chefs and food experts including Nigella Lawson and Yotam Ottolenghi. ckbk’s content partners include dozens of major publishers such as Chronicle Books, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Rodale, Simon & Schuster, Workman Publishing and Penguin Random House’s Rodale and Struik imprints.
The content coverage of the platform is both comprehensive and wide-ranging with contemporary authors such as Molly Yeh and David Tanis; Michelin star chefs including Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocuse; award-winning culinary authorities such as Marcella Hazan, Paula Wolfert, Ken Hom and Keith Floyd plus the legendary culinary bibles of Escoffier, On Food & Cooking and the Oxford Companion to Food.
ckbk’s publishing partners not only generate new digital revenue from the platform, but also gain new insights into patterns of cookbook recipe usage – allowing editorial decision-making to be guided for the first time by customer data gathered ‘in the kitchen’. Significant promotional partnerships with kitchenware brands, food-related e-commerce brands, food events, culinary schools and publishing channels will be launching in the next few months.
ckbk’s recipes are optimized for integration with connected kitchen appliances, and the first such partnership to be announced is with BSH – the largest appliance maker in Europe with brands that include Bosch, Gaggenau, NEFF and Siemens. In the first stage of its strategic partnership with BSH, ckbk and NEFF will roll out ckbk Premium Membership as a benefit for UK purchasers of NEFF’s flagship N90 connected oven.
ckbk’s ‘smart’ cookbook recipes will automatically set the correct time and oven temperature via the Home Connect system built into the N90 oven series, and selected recipes will be optimized to help new purchasers make the most of the additional features and cooking modes of their new smart oven.
Quotes
“For too long, cookbooks have been stuck on the shelf as our lives have become increasingly digital,” said ckbk co-founder Matthew Cockerill. “With ckbk, we are delighted to bring the most trusted cookbooks online, digitally enhanced so that the recipes are easily accessible in a busy kitchen. ckbk members can freely explore our vast cookbook collection, and share their favorites via personal ‘recipe playlists’”.
“ckbk has created a next-generation platform that makes not just individual recipes, but entire cookbooks available to the public, encouraging home cooks and restaurant chefs alike to experiment with tens of thousands of proven world cuisine recipes,” said Steven Raichlen – author, journalist, lecturer, TV host and 5-time James Beard Award-winner. “The team at ckbk have really taken food publishing into the 21st century – I’m proud to have my cookbooks featured on their site alongside industry legends such as Paula Wolfert and Harold McGee.”
“As the leading oven brand in the UK, NEFF is proud to be the first to offer a solution allowing premium cookbook recipes from famous names to be fully integrated into the connected kitchen.,” said Andrew Jones, NEFF Marketing Director. “Following on from our launch of wifi-enabled NEFF appliances earlier this year, this partnership takes the connected kitchen one step further. Working with ckbk means our customers not only have top quality appliances, but they now also have thousands of recipes at their fingertips to help them benefit from the many cooking features our ovens have to offer.”
About ckbk
ckbk is a unique new service offering an ever-growing online collection of licensed culinary content to consumers, while delivering data-driven metrics and analytics for publishers and adaptive lifestyle content for IoT (Internet of Things)-enhanced consumer appliances. ckbk’s catalog includes more than 80,000 recipes and content from 350 in- and out-of-print cookbooks. ckbk launch partners include world-leading publishers such as Chronicle Books, Hachette, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Simon & Schuster, and Workman Publishing as well as leading kitchen brands such as NEFF.
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All trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are the property of their respective owners and are hereby recognized.
For further information, please contact Jonathan Hirshon at Horizon PR jh@horizonpr.com
Information for editors
ckbk is currently raising a $2m Seed funding round, having previously raised $750,000 in pre-Seed funding via its Kickstarter campaign and individual investors.
ckbk operates a Freemium membership model. Free membership offers access to 3 recipes per month while Premium Membership ($8.99/£8.99 per month) offers unlimited access to ckbk’s collection.
For more details on ckbk / NEFF partnership, see associated press release:
https://ckbk.me/neff-partnership
Links
ckbk app: https://app.ckbk.com/
List of books available on ckbk: https://app.ckbk.com/books
Techstars/BSH Future Home Accelerator: https://www.bshaccelerator.com/
Images
Downloadable presskit includes a range of ckbk imagery.