Cookpad is a tech company working to reconnect the world with everyday cooking. We believe that cooking is the key to a happier and healthier life for people, communities and the planet.
The choices we make shape our world. And when we cook, the choices we make have an impact on ourselves, the people we cook for, the growers and producers we buy from and the wider environment.
By solving the issues related to everyday cooking and helping more people to cook, we believe we can help build a better world.
Who we are
Cookpad was founded in 1997 in Japan by Aki Sano, who realised the global population was becoming less connected to food and the environment and this was having a negative effect on our individual and collective well-being. Aki decided to focus on cooking because cooking is ubiquitously human, connecting us with those we buy our ingredients from, cook for and eat with, thus affecting everything from our own health, to the health of our families, society and the planet.
An engineer by training, Aki wanted to use technology to help solve problems around everyday cooking, so established the recipe sharing service which grew into a vibrant community long before other social media networks came into existence. Today, more than 50% of the Japanese population uses Cookpad at least once a month.
After a decade of successful growth, Cookpad started its international expansion in 2013, with the aim of bringing our mission to everyone in the world. Funded by our Japanese business but managed independently with its own product team and platform, our recipe sharing service is available in over 70 countries and more than 30 languages. With over 5.5 million recipes shared on Cookpad to-date, we’re currently the largest and the only truly global recipe sharing platform in the world… and we’re just getting started.
What makes us different
Cookpad celebrates and provides technology-enabled solutions for creators along the food value chain. All of the content on our recipe sharing app is user generated, therefore everything has been tried and tested by home cooks, for home cooks. Our primary revenue model is subscription.
Cookpad is a product-first, technology company. We are held in high regard for our many open-source contributions, long history of supporting tech communities and our expertise in running a large global service at scale.
Our mission is at the centre of everything we do; our articles of incorporation state that once our mission is achieved we will dissolve as an entity.
Our team
In 2017, Cookpad established its global HQ in Bristol. Selected among the top cities and countries in Europe, we chose Bristol, not only because it was one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in Europe and one of the most forward-thinking, innovative and dynamic places in the UK, but also because of its vibrant food culture.
From offices near Temple Meads, our team of more than 100 product managers, designers and engineers are working with our community teams around the world to develop a recipe sharing platform and cooking community to enable home cooks to share and find daily cooking inspiration. In addition, thanks to our team of rapid prototyping innovators, we’re constantly experimenting with new and exciting product and business ideas along the food value chain.
Our mission and vision are long-term. We realise that everyday home cooking is facing more competition than ever and unless we make a difference, it is at risk of becoming a hobby at best. We are growing a team of highly talented product managers, designers and engineers who focus on issues with potential for big impact, think innovatively and act boldly to achieve our mission.
The world has changed a lot since 1997. But, the ideas that Cookpad was founded on remain the same; they are at the very heart of our mission, our business and our future.
