Kittch is the new platform celebrating the culinary industry and building a community of creators to inspire and grow awareness within our industry.
In an era full of big tech goliaths seeking to replace the human component of the dining experience—Kittch, the new culinary live stream platform, wants to remind the world that culinary is an art, and you can’t replace the artist.
As the first live stream vertical for chef creators and foodies everywhere, Kittch celebrates the intersections of culinary arts, community, and the digital era.
“Whether it’s FoodTok or Instagram food, there is a tremendous demand for culinary celebrities and creators,” Brian Bedol, Founder of Kittch, told us. “Surprisingly, while there are verticals for music, crafts, gamers, and so forth, there wasn’t an integrated creator vertical for culinary.”
When the pandemic hit, and the industry turned upside down, Bedol was quick to help chef friends set up a digital presence through zoom classes and social media.
“I said, I’m happy to help you out, but let me help you find a platform out there that integrates all this stuff, and honestly, I was sort of shocked to discover that it didn’t exist,” Bedol explained.
Knowing that food-centric entertainment is in high demand, Bedol saw an opportunity to apply his background as an executive media producer and develop approachable avenues for culinary creators to build a profile and monetize their digital presence.
Teaming up with Elana Karp, Founder of Plated, and Douglas DeLuca, Executive Producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kittch launched out of beta just last March.
Already the site hosts over 500 locally and nationally known chefs, butchers, bakers, farmers, and brands offering educational courses and videos, cooking classes, recipes, clubs, and more.
Taking notes from other platforms like Twitch or Only Fans, creators on Kittch can put up an optional paywall for certain content like clubs, courses, and videos. Additionally, followers can leave a cash tip to creators with a form of digital currency the platform calls “Clams.”
As a live streaming platform, chef creators are recording in real time. Viewers can pay for a digital “Chef’s Counter” experience with the capability to interact with the creator while preparing whatever is featured.
“The reason we chose to lean heavily into the live experience is that hospitality is live,” Bedol shared. “Hospitality is about making eye contact. It’s really about establishing relationships.”
Kittch wants the professionals on their platform to succeed. They actively guide digital best practices, promote content to bolster the creators’ followings, and run incentivized campaigns to build more content and discoverability.
“We’re doing things like— we have a promotion running this month that the creator who has the most new followers gets a $500 bonus, or we have another program running where creators who produce content 8 out of 10 weeks in a row get a $1000 bonus,” Bedol explained. “So we’re not just asking people to trust that we’ll do what we say we’re going to do. We’re also sort of putting our money where our mouth is.”
As Kittch grows, they continuously create opportunities for chefs to build their profiles and revenue streams. For example, brand partnerships they’ve formed with the Mushroom Council, Ritz, and Walmart create paid sponsorship opportunities for chefs to generate more revenue, garner visibility, and grow their following.
While food content is the feature of Kittch, they also run series like their newest addition, Chef to Chef. In this series, their favorite chefs, like Mark Vetri and Tia Raiford, hold intimate and informal conversations with colleagues and mentors in the industry.
Another significant component of the Kittch community is growing opportunities for creators and viewers to promote important causes to the industry and at large.
Kittch currently holds digital fundraisers for Southern Smoke, a non-profit bringing resources to industry workers in vulnerable financial, physical, and mental health situations. The site also has a channel called Spaghetti Wednesday, and they’ve partnered with a brand that donates a meal to a family in need for every consumer that posts a pasta dish.
“This is such an unbelievably passionate, love-filled, and generous industry that we want to give people easy ways of participating in programs that fit their personal beliefs.” Bedol shared.
Upon entering the ever-changing new normal of our current existence, one thing is for sure— creating a digital presence is necessary. This is true especially for artists and creators to get discovered and grow their following.
With Kittch, culinary professionals and others in the industry can join a community of industry peers and gain exposure to genuinely passionate consumers who are food obsessed.
Over the next six months, Kittch will add another 500 creators to their site. So, if you’re ready to build your digital profile or just want to support your peers, check out Kittch to learn more! For those interested in joining the Kittch chef community, apply for your own channel here.