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G O U R M A N D
W o r l d C o o k b o o k A w a r d s
2005
PRESS RELEASE
December 21, 2005
What makes a good cookbook?
What happens to a cookbook which wins an award?
After ten years with the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards we see a formula to success in cookbooks and wine literature, says Edouard Cointreau, president of Gourmand. Receiving almost 6 000 books from all over the world, representing some 65 countries we do have a great perspective. The cookbook boom is still increasing, new markets occurs and old restore and progress. The upcoming Awards 2005 in Kuala Lumpur are going to be exciting.
The Languages of Cookbooks
This summary of cookbooks and wine literature is done by language and country by country, from Brazilian to Turkish. We do present Gourmands conclusions:
What makes a good cookbook?
What happens to a cookbook who wins an award?
The birth of a cookbook and how a star is born, are not secrets any more.
In the following table Gourmand lists the ten best cookbook countries today, the seven countries for the future and the best trade magazines for cookbooks.
G O U R M A N D
W o r l d C o o k b o o k A w a r d s
Edouard Cointreau, President Bo Masser, Secretary of the Jury
Pintor Rosales, 36 Brandtvagen 5 A
28008 Madrid SE-712 32 Hellefors
Spain Sweden
Tel: +34 91 541 67 68 Fax: +34 91 541 68 21 Tel: +46 70 6677 388
E-mail: edouard@gourmandbooks.com www.cookbookfair.com E-mail: bo@massers.se
Table of Contents
1.- Brasilian
2.- Chinese
3.- Dutch
4.- English-UK
5.- English – USA
6.- English-Rest of the World :
New Zealand
Australia
Singapore
South Africa
Ireland
Malta
Canada
India
7.- French:
France
Rest of the World – Francophone
8.- German
9.- Greek
10.- Italian
11.- Japanese
12.- Malaysia
13.- Russian
14.- Scandinavia
15.- Spain-Castellano
Spain-Catalan
16.- Spanish-Latin America
17.- Turkish
18.- Conclusion – What makes a good cookbook?
Tables 1,2,3
Table 1 .- The ten best cookbook countries today
Table 2.- The seven countries for the future.
Table 3.- The best trade magazines for cookbooks.
The Languages of Cookbooks
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards received 15% more books this year than in 2004, with a total close to 6.000. Over 65 countries participated, with a strong increase in quality as well as quantity. The improvement in quality is spread through all countries, and covers the low end of the market as well as the high end. Promotion and marketing are becoming more and more important as keys to success.
Detailed lists of winners by countries will be posted in the middle of January, after the winners are notified personally during the Christmas season. These winners will then compete for the Best in the World, to be celebrated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 17-21, 2006. Here is an overview of the world of cookbooks, country by country, or rather, language by language, as it is how the publishing markets work now in the internet age.
1.- Brazil
Publisher Senac dominates the market for cookbooks, followed by Melhoramentos and Boccato Editores – Gourmet Brazil. The strong growth continues, with an increase in the presence of chefs, including talented women chefs. This is one of the top 5 new markets for the future.
2.- Chinese – China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan
Cookbooks from Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong are easier to find outside Chine than books from China, but in reality China already publishes an amazing range of cookbooks, from very cheap books to series with CD-Rom or high class chef books. Health is in the background of nearly all cookbooks. The design, the styling, the photos are very different from western books, except in Singapore. The changes are very quick, and this is the first area to watch for the future.
3.-Dutch – The Netherlands and Belgium
Lannoo is still the leading quality publisher, followed very closely by Stichting Kunstboek, Miller Books, House of Books, Tirion, Kunsthuis Interlokaal, Momedia, etc. This is one of the most competitive markets in the world, with a high level of imports in English selling very well, as well as cookbooks published by supermarket chains. It is a wonderful market for consumers, and very difficult for publishers. The publishers that survive are among the best in Europe in quality and marketing.
4.- English – UK
The quality of British cookbooks continues to increase with astonishing depth. There are more quality cookbook publishers in the UK than in any other country, which benefits authors and a lively foreign rights market. In alphabetical order, readers must applaude the cookbook publishing of Absolute Press, BBC Books, Bloomsbury, Cassel, Carroll and Brown, Conran Octopus, Ebury, Grub Street, Dorling Kindersley, Hodder Stoughton, Jacqui Small, John Blake, Kyle Cathie, Mitchell Beazley, MPQ, New Holland, Penguin-Michael Joseph, Quadrille, Ryland Peters Small, Saqi, and many others. The strong market for cookbooks is a direct consequence of the maturity of british food television, and the excellent level of its restaurants. This year there are fewer great star chefs cookbooks, but more cookbooks tied to television shows and their hosts. It is the first time there are so many excellent books on fish. Otherwise there is an amazing diversity of subjects, which shows that British publishers and readers probably may know more about food than those of most other countries.
5.- English – USA
Very high competition makes it very difficult for cookbooks to achieve high sales, with an extremely fragmented target of readers, a distribution system where sales are often larger with non-books retailers, and a very low access to media compared with other countries. There are over 100 television food shows available every week, which dilutes any impact. The US is of course the major western market for cookbooks in the number of titles published as well of sales, but very few cookbooks have high sales. Publishers take as little risk as possible in this difficult market, and the average quality has been stagnating for the last few years, contrary to other markets. There are better publishers of course, big or small, such as Chronicle, Clarkson Potter, Harper Collins, Hippocrene, Houghton Mifflin, Norton, Rodale, Stewart-Tabori-Chang, Ten Speed, John Wiley, William Morrow, etc. Universities publish more and more books on food, with recipes, such as this year the Universities of North Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, or Columbia University, and the US division of Oxford University Press. The University of Puerto Rico publishes great books in Spanish. Except for British cookbooks, the US does not buy many foreign rights, and neither is US cookbooks exported much. On the international markets for books in English, British (or Australian) cookbooks are much more present than US cookbooks.
6.- English – Rest of the World
This year we have received cookbooks first published in English from 18 different countries outside the UK and the US. Cookbooks in English are sold everywhere around the world. The Kinokuyama bookstore in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) is a branch of the huge Japanese retailer and has nearly a thousand cookbooks and wine books in English, with a similar space for Malay or Chinese or Japanese cookbooks.
New Zealand .- Cookbooks today are probably the best, certainly amazing in quality and quantity. Titles sell in large numbers, comparable to others from countries with much larger populations. Authors are among the best in the world, as well as publishers. They can work with success anywhere in the world.
Australia.- Five years ago Australian publishers, authors and chefs were the world leaders in cookbook trends and new design. The momentum has slowed down, but this year, there is again a new rise in quality, led by Murdoch Books, which is now the leading world cookbook brand, probably the only one that can be found in every continent in most countries, under its name, or through a license.
Singapore.- Cookbook publishing is now achieving world-class level in the city-state, thanks to the leadership of Marshall-Cavendish, an excellent publisher and distributor. There are other international publishers in Singapore with excellent professionals, such as Periplus and Editions du Pacifique. The strength of publishing in English in Singapore and Hong Kong is backed by high quality printing at reasonable cost, available locally or in China and Thailand.
South Africa.- The country has become a high level international culinary destination, centring on Capetown and the wineries nearby, at Stellenbosch for instance. Cookbook publishing is competitive, dominated by Struik and New Holland, with good publishers such as Double Storiy Books or Cederberg. There are great chefs now in South Africa, and many good authors.
Ireland.- Irish contemporary cooking can be very creative, and so are the cookbooks, led by A.A.Farmar and Epicure Press.
Malta.- Thanks to low costs, access to Eastern Europe and Arab countries, and good management, there are now good cookbook professionals in Malta that publish mostly in English.
Canada.- Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto are becoming new English speaking food tourism destinations while Montreal and Quebec have long been under the French influence. Canadian cookbooks in English are doing well, with good publishers or distributors such as Whitecap, Douglas McIntire, Harper Collins Canada, Robert Rose, Raincoast, and Firefly.
India.- The fastest growth market for cookbooks in English in Asia could be India in the future. There are many excellent Indian publishers of cookbooks such as Motilal, Roli Books, Popular Arakasham, or larger groups such as Penguin Books of India, or the UBS Group. There is strong emphasis on vegetarian food, as well as a boom in culinary culture.
7.-French
France.- There are several hundred cookbook publishers in France. The most important have a strong foreign rights activity: it is the case of Hachette Pratique, Flammarion, Solar, Groupe La Martinière-Minerva-Aubanel, Larousse. The multiplication by 2 of the market in 5 years has allowed newcomers in the sector to become leaders: Marabout (Groupe Hachette) is now the leader in number of cookbooks sold, challenged by Editions First and their very cheap books. Editions Alain Ducasse led the world today in top quality cookbook publishing, after five years only. Traditional publishers Gallimard, Glenat and Mango try very new concepts, while there is a boom for regional publishers of local cookbooks. The French are now back close to the top for the best cookbook publishing, with a strong improvement in quality and quantity in the past 5 years.
Cyril Lignac, the Hachette-Pratique star has sold over 100.000 cookbooks after his show on M6 Television throughout the French speaking countries. Yvan Cadiou is still the only one that is really comfortable both in English and French. Cadiou started in Great Britain on BBC. He is now on Cuisine TV in France, and in the rest of Europe in English (Sweden, Germany, etc) Cadious next book is out in February. But like all French cookbook authors, he will have to publish in English to reach the world market: the market share in the French language is small compared to the English, probably at least 5 times smaller. French cookbooks exports are helped when their translation remains French, while the opposite is true for cookbooks in German.
French-Rest of the World (Francophone).- This year we have received cookbooks first published in French from 8 different countries outside France. The most important publishers from these countries come from Quebec, from Canton de Geneve and Valais in Switzerland, and Belgium. Though many cookbooks remain local, are they now sold through the entire French speaking area much more than 5 years ago. The distribution is still major issue. One new factor is that there are television stars in French that travel well in French, such as Josée di Stasio from Canada now on Cuisine TV in France.
8.- German.- Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland
The cookbook market in German is back! Five years ago, Germany was the leader and engine of the growth of the market in Europe. Then there were several years of stagnation. It is now better in Austria and Switzerland, though still weak in Germany. Many of the best books are from Austria this year, as well as from Switzerland. With the German book market crisis, there have been fewer risks taking among German publishers. So there have been a few more translations to German, though the German publishers have kept their superiority complex in cookbook design and production. Some German publishers export well their cookbooks into other languages, when these books have universal appeal and do not appear German. For foreigners, German photographers and book designers are clearly among the best in the world, though it is much less obvious for the image of German food.
9.- Greek
In the past few years, Greece has been a surprisingly strong publisher of good cookbooks, led by Vefa Alexiadou, Ellinika Gramata, Psichalos, Patakis, Kastaniotis, among others. This year there are much fewer cookbooks: perhaps Greece is still suffering the last of the impact of the Olympic Games investments, which included also the publishing industry.
10.- Italian
Year after year, cookbooks published in Italian are disappointing. It remains true that there are many better cookbooks first published in English than in Italian. Reality is that there are far more buyers of cookbooks about Italian food in English than in Italian. Mondadori is the biggest publisher in Italy with a majority share of the market larger than any other publisher has in his own country in Europe. Mondadori dismantled its cookbook unit in 1999, and the market has not recovered since. It is looking better today, but Bibliotheca Culinaria is still the only publisher in Italy that produces every year cookbooks at world class level. RCS Libri and Mondadori are still focusing on the low end of the market. Italian cookbook publishing is even more different from the Spanish than the French, while at first there are no logical reasons from a culinary sector point of view: both in Italy and Spain, chefs are creative and famous, the restaurant scene is lively, the food guides sell very well, food television is strong. But the publishing and book distribution sectors are very different in Spain and Italy
11.- Japanese
Over the past 10 years, more than 50 different Japanese publishers have received awards from us, with NHK Publishing, Kodansha and Shibata being among those who have won the most. Last year, for the first time, the best cookbook of the year was a Japanese author, Harumi Kurihara. Japanese cookbooks have always been among the best in the world, both at the top or lower levels. This year again there are superb books published for famous restaurants, as well as new designs for creative cookbooks, and excellent mass market cookbooks with many detailed photos. Japanese cookbooks are more visual than Western cookbooks. Very few Japanese cookbooks are translated, which is unfortunate as they would be most welcome in other countries.
12.- Malaysia
Cookbooks in Malaysia are published in Malay, Chinese and/or English. The majority of the population is Malay, a large minority is Chinese, and many cookbook buyers can read English. There are fifty publishers in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, with more in other cities of the country. Books published in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong are widely distributed in Malaysia for its Chinese population. Book distribution is strong, with Borders already present. The best selling star is Chef Wan, the star of 5000 television shows, who is also the nº 1 cookbook author in all of Southeast Asia for publisher Marshall Cavendish. Malaysian cookbooks are truly Asian, and show the best of Malay, Chinese, Indian or even Arab foods.
The quality of the cookbooks from Malaysia is at least as good as the average in Europe or America, but there is nearly no trade in foreign rights.
This will change with the next Gourmand World Cookbook Awards which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, May 17-21,2006.
13.- Russian
Cookbooks in Russian are improving very fast. There is a very large market at the low end in very cheap cookbooks. One specialized cookbook publisher has 175 employees and sells over 10 million cookbooks a year. At the top end there are cookbooks that are more expensive than any one in Western Europe. There are also excellent food television shows, with book products and glamorous restaurants. Russia will be a very important market for translated cookbooks one day, and the low cost of production could help exports of Russian cookbooks in various languages to various markets, for instance to Asia, including the Middle East.
14.- Scandinavia .- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
We organized the first cookbook awards in Scandinavia at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 1999. The Swedish Cookbook Awards now have taken place every year since 2001 in Grythyttan, province of Orebro, where we also held the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for Best in the World in February 2005.
Grythyttan has the best cookbook library in the world. It is part of the Restaurant School of the University of Orebro.
Sweden is still publishing the highest number of titles of new cookbooks per capita in the world, though it has decreased its production this year. The quality is very high, with top design, and sales can reach the same level as France or Spain for best sellers. Food television shows is a major factor in the promotion of cookbooks.
The same is true in Norway for food television shows with an excellent cookbook publishing industry, with world famous authors in spite of its small population. Exports are vital for Norway.
Finland has a few excellent publishers such as Otava and WSOY, but they do not export much in spite of the quality of their books, which are probably underestimated in their international potential.
There is a culinary boom in Denmark, as well as in Iceland. In all of Scandinavia the meal is now part of culture, and cookbooks sell exceptionally well.
15.-Spain
We hold separate competitions for the cookbooks in castellano and catalan, as well as euskera or gallego, which are all official languages of Spain.
The sector of cookbooks is very strong in Spain, with high demand at the top as well as other levels of the market. The quality is extremely high, with some of the best design or printing in Europe, with reasonable costs; lower than most of Western Europe. There are now five world famous Three Star Michelin chefs in Spain, and three have books this year that are winners in a category. There could be more stars in Spain, judging by the cookbooks: the most exciting cookbook is by One Star Michelin chef, TotalCooking by brain Doctor and chef Miguel Sánchez Romera, of Restaurant LEsguard, 30 kilometres north of Barcelona, published by Akal. He has been named on December 14, 2005 Chef of the Year by the Catalunya Academy of Gastronomy, in front of Ferran Adrià, as reported by newspaper La Vanguardia, which said two weeks ago in a big article LEsguard is unique in the world.
Catalunya is the invited guest at the next Frankfurt Book Fair, which could seem justified by the quality and quantity of its production, at least with cookbooks. Many, if not most of them, are helped by grants from the Catalan Government Institutions. A best selling cookbook in Catalan can sell 10.000 copies.
The same is true for the books in Euskera or Gallego, but there are much fewer of them.
16.- Spanish – Latin America
This year we have winners from 9 Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. There are books from the University of San Martin de Porres, in Lima (Peru), and from the University of Puerto Rico. Otherwise the leading numbers of winners are from Argentina, followed by Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Panamá, Cuba.
The quality of cookbooks in Latin America is sometimes surprisingly high. There is excellent culinary history research, and good chef books. Then there are amazingly original books on single subjects, such as cooking with chocolate (Mexico), cooking ofals (Panamá) or barbecues cooked on the metal parts of wheels (Argentina). They are interested in yoga cuisine or Arab food in Argentina.
Food television shows are very important, with some chefs coming from Spain. Those programs are often sold to the US Hispano market, mostly from Venezuela and Argentina. Many cookbooks are published with the television shows.
17.- Turkish
For five years we have been receiving excellent cookbooks from Turkey, with high quality, research and knowledge. This year we have a few such cookbooks, which will be highlighted as winners.
Turkey seems to have a strong potential for the future in cookbooks.
18.- Conclusion
A.- What makes a good cookbook?
The experience of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards
To be a Best in the World, a cookbook usually has a combination of the following:
A strong author (or authors) whose personality and heart shines throughout the book. The same is true for a novel; you share the knowledge of the character of the author(s) through the book.
A production of the cookbook by the publisher that shows understanding and respect for the author, as well as experienced professional knowledge in the art of designing, editing and printing a book.
A user friendly cookbook that respects and understand the reader who pays his money for the book.
So the best books have a balance between the author(s), publisher and reader. The best are usually obvious when you compare thousands of books.
B.- What happens to a cookbook when:
1.- it is published?
2.- it receives an award?
1.- A Cookbook is Born
For publishers, publishing is an industrial process where the marketing aspect is often misunderstood by the authors. While it is true that a few books are sold well through word of mouth, and that a few publishers may have the resources to promote a few cookbooks sometimes, it remain valid that 50% to 90% of the promotion effort of a cookbook has to be done by the author(s). The first time author usually learns this too late, after the publication date.
Cookbooks are like babies to the author(s). For the publisher, a book suddenly loses much interest when it is published, and it is too often left to survive on its own (or thanks to the author) in the market place. Published cookbooks are nearly never nurtured by publishers; the author(s) has to continue all parenting efforts. To be efficient 85% of the work should focused on Television, but nothing is too minor to help a book. Every signing, at a bookstore or otherwise, is welcome, and every interview. Just as every page is important on your cookbook.
2.- A Star is Born
Marketing, media support, television shows may make a star, but all different ways costs efforts. When your cookbook receives a Gourmand World Cookbook Award you could gain benefits from this, making active use of the power:
It is an honour, competition is fierce. As it is free and established, nearly 6000 cookbooks were received in 2005. Many winners put their certificate in their home or at work.
It is a pleasure to share with all loved ones, and professionally, to thank all those who helped.
Some winners organize local event(s) with public institutions (Town Hall, Ministries, Embassy, University, Media) to increase media interest.
It helps sell the book, it is good business. Usually it gives a new boost to the book and increases sales by 10 to 30%. With a good public relations and media campaign, it can lead to a new printing. Having Winners stickers on the cover helps.
It helps sell foreign rights. This can be by far the most lucrative part of winning. It attracts the attention of foreign buyers and distributors from many countries. Selling translation and/or distributing rights cost little or nothing to the author(s). While the publisher will be most helpful in negotiating the contract technically, most of the sales and marketing effort has to be pushed by the author(s). The foreign rights departments of most publishers are swamped by work on too many deals and projects, and your cookbook needs all your help.
In 2006, for the first time, we will publish a Gourmand Yearbook to be used by all winners to promote their cookbook and foreign rights deals. We will make it available at major book fairs around the world, and at the Cookbook International Rights Center at our event in Kuala Lumpur May 17-21,2006. It will also be posted on internet in March 2006.
Table 1
The ten best cookbook countries in the world in 2005
Rated over the past 10 years for:
Number of Titles
Volume of Sales
Quality of Cookbooks/Winners at Awards
Foreign Rights cookbook activity listed in alphabetical order, in 2 groups :
1.- Australia
France
Germany
Japan
The UK
2.- Austria
New Zealand
Spain
Sweden
The USA
Table 2
The Future
Long term trend leaders for the foreign rights market:
1.- China
2.- Southeast Asia
3.- Russia
4.- Brazil
5.- Scandinavia
6.- Korea
7.- Turkey
Table 3
The best book trade magazines for cookbooks:
USA
Publishers Weekly
Annual Cookbook Special in late July (two months after Book Expo and long before Frankfurt)
UK
Publishing News
Quarterly Food and Wine Specials
Germany
Buchhandler
Annual Special in October, for the Frankfurt Bookfair
Buchreport
Annual Special in October
Kulinarischer Report des Deutschen Buchhandels 2005-2006
German Yearbook for the cookbook market, with 20 articles.
(Kornmayer – Imselbst)
France
Livres Hebdo
Annual Books Special in November, for Christmas retail sales.
Australia
The Australian Bookseller
Annual separate cookbook supplement for
the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.
G O U R M A N D
W o r l d C o o k b o o k A w a r d s
Edouard Cointreau, President Bo Masser, Secretary of the Jury
Pintor Rosales, 36 Brandtvagen 5 A
28008 Madrid SE-712 32 Hellefors
Spain Sweden
Tel: +34 91 541 67 68 Fax: +34 91 541 68 21 Tel: +46 70 6677 388
E-mail: edouard@gourmandbooks.com www.cookbookfair.com E-mail: bo@massers.se
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