What’s Cooking Relaunches As Digital Platform With Kraft Heinz And Top Chef Alum

The goal of the initiative is to help consumers make delicious meals with what they have at home while also inspiring them to branch out. Chef Edward Lee will serve as the creative director of the new digital offering, and to begin with the platform will promote content exclusively from him while sourcing other content creators. The Brooklyn-born, Louisville-based, Korean-American Chef Lee is no stranger to the media, having appeared on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas, and served as an alumni judge on Top Chef: Portland, which also aired on Bravo. Chef Lee is also the award-winning author of Buttermilk Graffiti and Smoke & Pickles, and more of his writings have appeared in the pages of Esquire, Bon Appetit, GQ, and Gourmet. 

In order to access the content on What’s Cooking, users need to sign up and join the food-focused online community. Offerings will include videos, recipes, and instructionals from a variety of chefs and content creators, all showcasing food content that is unique to their style, heritage, and audience. 

The What’s Cooking digital platform comes out of Kraft Heinz’s digital innovation lab in Toronto, Canada. Recently, the legacy food company has been stepping up its investments in digital technology and talent and is currently in the midst of a pivotal digital transformation. Kraft Heinz launched an advanced data platform, replacing the brand’s on-premise Hadoop infrastructure with a next generation solution powered by the Snowflake Data Cloud. The transition is all part of the company’s goal to “make life delicious” for customers and spur innovation across the marketplace by enabling and promoting enticing and engaging interactive consumer experiences and touchpoints. The newly reimagined What’s Cooking platform is a result of this mission, and the platform’s multi-phase launch will leverage Kraft Heinz brands in new and unique ways while also showcasing food content that is unique to each partner chef or content creator. 

The brand’s approach to growing its audience across a new digital platform, and to better serve and connect with an audience of home cooks and foodies is part of a larger trend emerging around owned media ecosystems and digitally disruptive marketing channels. What’s Cooking can be accessed online and mobile, and the platform also maintains an Instagram and TikTok account for fans to follow along for the latest news and content. 

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This article originally appeared in PSFK’s report, Content Marketing in a Socially Driven Marketplace –a guide to help brands and retailers explore an expansive content landscape and begin experimenting with the various buying and selling formats across social media.