12 min read
| March 22, 2021
As we already know, social media is used to showcase our daily life, and it’s precisely that natural, bare-all, #nofilter element which grabs users’ attention, whether that be your likes and dislikes, your experiences, hobbies, etc.
These days, we have so many platforms on which to do that, but Instagram is still top dog due to its ability to give you what you want, when you want it and in any format. You could almost call it a type of search engine, instead of googling something, like… a recipe, for example, you go to Instagram instead.
Packed with every type of content, from beauty to sport, DIY to dance, Instagram provides videos and recommendations about absolutely anything you can think of, not forgetting, of course, cuisine.
There’s nothing new about foodie influencers, but lockdown and the pandemic have seen the joy of cooking at home rediscovered. It would be fair to say we saw a foodie revolution in 2020.
Accounts dedicated to all things gastronomy have popped up left, right and centre, but the good thing is they aren’t all the same. Each one looks at cuisine from an innovative, unique and entertaining perspective, whether that’s down to the type of food they’re sharing or the way they deliver their content… humorous twist anyone?.
Brands are becoming more and more intent on identifying the best profiles to collaborate with and our ranking will help you discover everything foodie influencers can contribute, from sharing recipes and suggesting ingredients to creating desserts and recommending restaurants.
For our list of the top 10 foodie influencers in the US, we have opted to focus more on the quality and innovativeness of their content rather than the number of followers they have, since you can find all sorts of accounts from micro to mega influencers.
Here are our top 10 Instagram foodie influencers from the US:
1. @andreabemis
Andrea opens our list with her family-oriented foodie account. In her Instagram bio, she describes herself as a “Farmer-eater-lover” as her profile revolves around her life as an organic farmer. Andrea has a blog called “Dishing up the Dirt” where she shares all of her recipes and favourite vegetables. Want to see her full stats? Click here.
2. @gimmesomeoven
Ali is a lifestyle influencer who loves to cook. Her passion lead her to create a channel totally dedicated to cuisine where she shares recipes for easy-to-make, home-cooked food. Her highlights contain loads of super diverse recipes from traditional US cuisine to Mexican tacos. The look and feel of her profile is very clean due to the fact she only ever posts photos of the end result on a white background. The majority of her posts are photos, although there is the odd roughly-edited video with background music in which she superimposes text to explain the steps of a recipe. This profile is 100% cooking only with references to her personal life left for other accounts. Click here to see her full stats.
3. @jakecohen
Jake’s account is more content creation oriented. The majority of his content is very roughly-edited home videos where he narrates step-by-step footage of his recipes. He doesn’t only focus on one type of food or cuisine, and his most-viewed posts vary between desserts, pasta, fish and meat. With over 300k followers, Jake’s new cook book will be available from the 9th of March. Click here to see his full stats.
4. @feedtheswimmers
One of the biggest benefits of social media, and specifically Instagram, is that people can find content for any interest and foodies are no exception. These influencers post about cuisine, but they do so based on their own tastes and lifestyles. In Jill’s case, that means providing her followers with a range of healthy and nutritious recipes. The look and feel of her profile is very colourful due to her focus on the colour of different vegetables to draw the eye and make it more visual. In her case, all of the posts are photos and she shares the full recipe in the description, as well as having a blog where she delves deeper into her favourite dishes. Want to see her full stats? Click here.
Fabrizio describes himself as a “Mexican American foodie” and this is reflected in his Instagram account. He was a chef and now he cooks at home, sharing tonnes of innovative and healthy recipes with his followers. His cuisine moves away from the term ‘traditional’ giving way to somewhat more complex creations and his posts are also quite different, with the majority of his recipes shared through videos where sound is the star. Click here to see his full stats.
6. @succulentbite
Nico is another one of our US foodie influencers who produces original, relaxed content that has seen him gain an engaged and interactive following. All of his posts follow the same pattern with videos where he completes a recipe in seconds through the use of transitions. He then uses the description to share all of the ingredients and quantities needed to get the same result. Although he shares a wide variety of dishes, his account does have a heavy focus on sweet offerings. Click here to see his full stats.
7. @sweetpotatosoul
As we might already have mentioned, foodie influencers create content for every type of audience and in vegan influencer Jenné’s case, followers get access to vegan-only recipes through her feed. Her Instagram account is full of content related to the world of foodies and lifestyle and the majority of her posts are photos, though she does include some videos where you can follow her recipes through the superimposed instructions and background music. Want to see her full stats? Click here!
8. @damn_delicious
Chungah is a well-known American foodie influencer and author of two cook books. Despite being a food lover, a large part of her content is also dedicated to her dogs, as she admits herself in her bio: “40% recipes 60% corgis”. Chungah posts photos of her recipes and then shares the method in her blog. Click here to see her full stats.
9. @maxthemeatguy
For all you meat-lovers out there, Max is your ideal influencer. Though he doesn’t only post meat-based recipes, they do make up the bulk of his content, which is great for brands looking for more specific profiles. Max’s content is natural, with barely any editing and, like the other profiles in this list, most of his posts are videos with transitions which show how to make the recipe in mere seconds. Want to see Max’s full stats? Click here!
10. @elavegan
The last profile in our ranking is that of Michaela Vais, an influencer with over a million followers for her vegan food recipes. The look and feel of her account is very attractive and meticulous, and all of her recipes are displayed with stylized backgrounds consistent with her other posts. She tends to use the Carousel function in her posts to show more than one photo of the end result and develops the full recipes in her blog. Click here to see her full stats.
It’s easy to see how the content from these profiles grabs our attention which begs the question, if we, as social media users, love to see this type of content so we can replicate it ourselves at home, is this not the easiest way for brands to promote their products and reach their target audience?
Food and cuisine-related content has moved beyond blogs and vlogs in recent years, and is now one of the most attractive types of content on every platform both for brands and users.
Gastronomy-based brands have begun to witness the huge influence social media has on consumers as well as the positive brand image influencers can convey to their audiences. For that reason, foodie influencers are a big asset for companies looking to increase brand awareness and improve their business.