Food 52 Provisions


Piebox
Food52 launched Provisions a unique kitchen and home shop.  The idea is now you can get everything for your kitchen needs at one location on the web.  To me, in many ways, Provisions closes the gap.  When you find a recipe on Food52 it will also give you the products needed to buy at Provisions and of course a few other suggestions. 

Amazing treasure trove of content tied together with products.  Right now there is a 20% discount on exclusive Provisions one-of-a-kind products and 10% discount on your first purchase over $50.  There is also a group of taste makers from Pinterest who are creating inspiration for Food52/Provisions products. Crowd sourcing has always been a huge focus for Food52 and a successful one so they are continuing with that theme.

Provisions-logo-charcoal
In full transparency I am investor in Food52.  It has been a treat (no pun intended) watching the brand evolve over time.  I have been impressed with both Amanda and Merrill's focus to stay on brand.  They built a roadmap and have followed it slowly and methodically while engaging an incredible crowd of home chefs across the country.  Now they are taking the site to another level with products that are as special as the Food52 audience deserved. 

I have been on the beta site and seem to buy something everytime I go there.  My first purchase was this pie box.  I had been pining for it since I saw it.  Bravo to the team.  They have really done a fantastic job!

Comments (Archived):

  1. leigh

    uh oh…i should never have read this post …..

    1. Gotham Gal

      Lol

  2. WA

    What about partnering with La Cornue or Viking or the like in marketing to the part of your demographic focused on great kitchens at that moment. Point of purchase approach? I wonder how many Pinterest Boards would develop around people’s new ovens…

    1. Gotham Gal

      How about they pay us for access to our customer base?

      1. WA

        Win win on a two way street. Precisely. Great point. You and Fred just never cease to keep feeding me great classroom examples of real world applications for my students.

  3. William Mougayar

    Funny I was just reading about Provisions on Pando. It’s such a smart idea to link recipe making to buying stuff around it.So many times, my wife’s shopping list includes items that were a direct result of her reading recipes, every week. It’s either an accessory or some type of food or ingredient.

  4. awaldstein

    I just did my 2012 taxes and everything is from Amazon.Could they become a branded filter and market the information and outsource the fulfillment through a source like Amazon?

    1. Gotham Gal

      the key to successful ecommerce sites is not being on amazon.

      1. LE

        Agree.Not only that but Amazon started charging 7% sales tax in my state (July 1) so now I search for other vendors that can ship direct so I can avoid the sales tax (buy the camera from a NYC shop which will ship w/o sales tax).That said I’ve discovered a few vendors because they came up in Amazon search. And I’ve seen vendors offer just a few products on Amazon to try and drive you for the ones that aren’t on amazon to their ecommerce site.In any case any deal or advantage a vendor gains today through Amazon will go down as Amazon (like a cable company that has you hooked) cuts the net amount you get for any sale through them by changing fees or changing fees. Maybe not this year but will happen. Since if you don’t have your own warehouse and everything is done by them how are you going to switch back? Not to mention that you are beholden to Amazon reviews on your products (which can be good or bad).

  5. pixiedust8

    I got the announcement about their store. I wasn’t really impressed by the goods. I’m not saying this to be obnoxious, but it seemed like stuff you could find in HomeGoods. I thought I’d be whipping out my credit card, but it was a little anticlimatic. I do like the site, though.

  6. Stuart Willson

    i’m interested in seeing how this works. marrying content and commerce is increasingly popular, and for good reason: if you have content, you really don’t want to rely on supply challenged advertising markets, and if you have commerce, you want to drive engagement and hopefully incremental sales. starting on either side creates challenges: are we sacrificing our content to sell goods? how much do we spend on content to drive engagement? it’s early days, so we’ll have to see how this works for web 2.0 ecom cos, but there is a good example of this working and working well, and that’s the home shopping networks. if there’s a takeaway there, it’s that content is used explicitly for customer acquisition and there’s a direct relationship between a piece of content and what is sold: a 10 minute cooking piece is produced explicitly to sell a pan or a pot or a cookbook. with that as a guide, one thing that would be great would be a partnership between food52 and freshdirect. not only is there a pretty direct relationship between content and commerce (though lead gen) but food52’s customer value proposition improves when people can use the site not only to find recipes but – leveraging freshdirect’s logistics – to make them happen.

    1. Gotham Gal

      we have a partnership with Whole Foods and that content/recipes is exactly why it works.

      1. Stuart Willson

        right. but that’s more brand building today, no? (perhaps that b/c it’s early days.) it would be great to see Plated-like functionality, whether one’s being provided with all the ingredients or simply having holes filled in (e.g. i need dill or a zester).

        1. Amanda Hesser

          Hi Stuart, it’s great to get your thoughts. We’re also interested in the fresh food market, but we feel it’s a very different category. There’s a company called Plenishable that’s working with Fresh Direct and recipe sites to do just what you suggest above. We’ve been talking with them, and are looking forward to seeing how their beta goes.We see the strength of a content and commerce model in a different way. It’s not about converting every single person into a buyer, or compromising our content in a way that would focus so directly on selling. We see it as an opportunity to build a brand that people can trust for both content and goods. With the people who trust us for our content, we want to maintain this trust and extend their experience to Provisions, so that they come to us for both their daily content fix as well as for when they need a plate, tool, or wedding gift. And for people who discover us through Provisions, we can draw them into Food52 and show them how we can become a daily resource from them. And we’re able to generate revenue on both sides. Of course, some people may never convert from Food52 to Provisions (or vice versa) and that’s ok. Our point is that, yes, you can produce content to sell stuff, but if you see them as separate entities that complement each other, you can build a much deeper, more lasting business.

  7. Laura Yecies

    search please – I just went onto the site and can’t find the pie box which I MUST buy for my mother-in-law (expert pie baker)it’s not under “exclusive” “vintage” or “bakeware” or “storage and organization”

    1. Gotham Gal

      just sent to amanda and merrill. let’s see.

    2. Amanda Hesser

      Hi Laura — yes, we need search! And we’re building it, but this may take a week or two. In the meantime, here’s the link right to the pie box:http://food52.com/provision…I hope your mother-in-law likes it, and thanks so much for checking out Provisions!

      1. Laura Yecies

        Thanks!

  8. Amber

    I see that more and more of my paycheck is going to go into the companies you invest in : )First Le Tote, now this! Thanks!

    1. Gotham Gal

      Lol

  9. LE

    http://food52.com/provision…Would be good to have “gifts for mom” and “gifts for your sister” and “gifts for your wife” and “gifts for your girlfriend”. I have no clue what to buy. Take my money, ship it, and don’t make me think. Reason I buy from Coach is I can walk in the store and know that whatever I pickup the person I give the gift to will be happy. (Not to mention that they send me an awesome handwritten thank you.) Set at different price points and spending levels.(Made a similar suggest to Rick – “pickles for your Uncle” “Pickles for your grandfather” (I’m not a pickle guy just tell me what to buy..))

  10. John Revay

    Side note – I once read Amanda wanted to have dinner w Steven Colberthttp://food52.com/blog/1713…

    1. Gotham Gal

      hilarious