Epicurious.com Celebrates 10 Years of Success; Premier Culinary Web Site Marks Anniversary with Major Enhancements and Continued Commitment to Its 2.9 Million Users

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2005--What began as a bold experiment in 1995 -- the creation of the first-ever comprehensive recipe database that would also serve as the online destination for Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines -- Epicurious.com has emerged 10 years later as the gold standard in the category and a profitable property for CondeNet.

Epicurious attracts an upscale consumer audience of passionate home cooks with its database of more than 20,000 tested recipes, user tools and editorial features. In the past five years, Epicurious has seen remarkable revenue growth, fueled by the division's commitment to offering high-quality content and useful services.

"Our users have been essential to our growth. From day one, we have listened to their feedback and ideas and responded with changes to content and features," said Susan Rerat, senior vice president and managing director, Epicurious. "They've rewarded us with an astonishing level of loyalty and engagement."

The site's consumer achievements have lead to great success with advertising sales. From 1999 to 2004, gross revenue increased by 258 percent, with a wide mix of advertisers attracted by the site's ability to deliver high-quality prospects. Advertisers include prominent food brands such as Kraft and Pepperidge Farm; luxury non-endemic advertisers such as Mercedes, Audi, American Express and Samsung; and upscale food-related marketers such as Grey Goose, KitchenAid and Turning Leaf.

At the dawn of the Web, the startup team at CondeNet identified a new opportunity to create a central database of recipes from the combined archives of Bon Appetit and Gourmet. Moreover, such a site would be able to strategically differentiate itself from the magazines -- offering services that could not exist in print, while at the same time capitalizing on these assets. Epicurious launched in September 1995 with a database of 500 recipes, and it quickly became the online home of passionate cooks. It grew to be a comprehensive culinary site and currently serves up to 52 million page views monthly.

The hub of interactivity at Epicurious can be found in the recipe Rate and Review feature, which lets users add comments to recipes. Currently 87 percent of the recipes have been rated or reviewed. Other popular features include the Forums, where users can share cooking information, and My Recipe Box. The site also provides a wealth of original editorial features, some by major contributors such as wine expert Andrea Immer Robinson, and others featuring high-caliber chefs such as Thomas Keller.

New Features for the 10th Year

To mark the 10th Anniversary, Epicurious will unveil key new features this year:

-- Reader Recipe Database: Set to launch in late spring, this new feature further expands the suite of user services. A newly-architected Reader Recipe Database will provide users with the ability to add their own recipes; to search, view and share recipes with other users; and manage their own recipe collections.

-- Recipe Contest: A series of 10 contests will kick off in March, inviting users to show off their creativity in the kitchen. Each contest will be based on a culinary theme, and the winning recipes will be chosen by the Epicurious community in an open vote. Category winners will join the ranks of the world's top chefs by having their recipe archived in the new recipe database.

-- Epi to Go: Epicurious recently introduced a feature that enables users to download recipes onto their mobile phones or PDAs, allowing for greater spontaneity and simplifying the shopping experience. Epi to Go ushers in a new era of connectivity and personalization in the wireless sphere. Along with the recipes, the user has access to recommendations and special offers related to the chosen recipe.

A Vision for the Next 10 Years

Epicurious will continue to innovate using new technologies and emerging food trends. Recently, the site partnered with Self magazine to offer healthy recipes and created "Going Global," a feature that delves into international cuisine. Epicurious has also partnered with Sign Storey Inc., a new company that uses flat-screen display technology to deliver content and high-impact messages to consumers in supermarkets through a customized retailer network.

As it looks ahead toward future growth, the company will continue to maintain strong user-loyalty and evolve with technological advances. "As wireless technology evolves and digital devices change shape, we will have new opportunities to bring the cooking experience -- recipe demonstrations, cooking lessons, shopping services, wine pairing, and more -- out of the office and into the kitchen, or anywhere the customer wants to be," says Susan Rerat.

About Epicurious

Epicurious, a CondeNet site, incorporates more than 20,000 recipes from the premier brands in food journalism, Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines, as well as original material and a wealth of content from its loyal readers.

About CondeNet

CondeNet is the leading creator and developer of upscale lifestyle brands online, providing enjoyable, useful services that tie into and build upon the heritage of the world's most prestigious magazines. Today, CondeNet owns the deepest online brands in the vertical categories of food (Epicurious), travel (Concierge.com), and fashion (STYLE.COM and MEN.STYLE.COM). Based in New York, CondeNet is owned by Advance Publications, Inc, a privately held media company.