On May 8, 2012, I had the opportunity to speak with Tay Guo En from Asia Food Recipe (www.asiafoodrecipe.com) and discuss the company’s rapid growth and success. Asia Food Recipe is the largest recipe file in Asia, and it is becoming more and more popular all over the world. Many people turn to the site because not only can they get a certain Asian recipe, they can also see a video on how they can do it.
Recently, Asia Food Recipe has many answers for viral YouTube videos and also tons of online recipes for different Asian cuisines. Their website is focused on letting members not only post their recipes, but also upload loads of videos showing people how to prepare a certain dish. This translated into their rapid success and why they average one video recipe every 15 minutes.
The following is a transcript of the interview:
Mike: How did you come up with the idea for the Asia Foods recipe?
Guo En: Well, we saw a need – food lovers can find a few online resources that are really good Asian cuisine and recipes to help them create dishes . Asia Food Recipe was born from his desire to help people around the world truly experience all that Asian cuisine has to offer. We have collected recipes from across Asia.
Mike: How many people are currently using the site?
Guo En: It grew so fast – we launched the first phase of our website six months ago, but it took off almost overnight. It really seemed like people were waiting for something, one spark to light the fire. We’ve had around half a million recipes uploaded by users so far, including text and video recipes. Our Facebook page also has close to 80,000 fans.
Mike: What makes Asia’s food industry different from other sites that need to be taken care of?
Guo En: I think our difference is twofold. First, we are a mashup that allows you to receive video from YouTube easily in the form of a live video. In addition, we offer some of the unique Asian recipes in the world. If you are looking for true Asian roots, this recipe is for you. There are quite a few interesting things too – try Hello Kitty Futomaki Sushi from our website and tell me what you’ll see!
Mike: What do people love most about Asian Food Recipes?
Guo En: I think these are social aspects. Our users love being able to share their recipes with their friends and family via Facebook.
Mike: What is your most important work with the site?
Probably with half a million recipes – that’s enough done for any site!
Mike: Do you partner with any other websites or companies?
Guo En: Not by itself, but we closely integrate with social media. We give users simple, convenient ways to share, rate and rank recipes on both Facebook and Twitter.
Mike: Where do you see Asia Foods going in the near and far future (what are your plans)?
Guo En: We make a plan to keep doing what we are doing. Our vision is to embrace all things Asian and embrace every social system that allows cooks all over the world to share their discoveries with others.
Mike: Do you offer advertising opportunities on the site? What is it?
Guo En: Yes, we do. With so many people accessing our site, I’m sure we can reach a lot of people. We offer many different ways – but all are specifically tailored to our needs. Feel free to contact us for more details.
Mike: How does the perception of food made in Asia affect the food choices people make?
Guo En: I think it’s easier for us people to pull out and try something new, and we also find it easier for people to use common things to build a balance diet for good health and joy. Who, he says, is good food supposed to be pestilential?
Mike: Of all the recipes on the site, which one is your favorite or would you recommend reading? (Please tell me why).
Guo En: Oh, I don’t know if I could choose just one! There are so many amazing dishes, and Asian cuisine has a unique way of mixing different flavors and foods to create unique tastes. I could never choose just one.
Mike: Is there anything else you’d like to say about Asian Food Recipes or recipe pages in general?
Guo En: I would like to say “thank you” to all our users and everyone who shared, rated or posted recipes on our site. We owe our users success, and that’s always at the forefront of our minds.
