We are hungry for food and recipe ideas.

The most popular shows in Australian television over the last two years are food related. The giant event that is Masterchef had huge ratings and is still doing well when on.

Whether it is because of the Global Financial Crisis and people watching their dollars or a return to the pleasure of cooking good food well at home, these food shows have found a strong place on our televisions.

According to a survey by Roy Morgan Research of 18,935 Australian consumers over the age of 14 between January 2011 and December 2011, we are not only watching food related TV shows we are also really busy on line looking at food and recipe sites.

The research shows that since 2006 and until the end of the survey, the number of people visiting one of the five top food or recipe websites in a four week period went from 138 000 to 1.51 million.

Based on the results from the survey, the following are the most popular food or recipe related websites;

• Taste.com.au
• Allrecipes.com
• NinmsnFood
• Cuisine.com.au
• GourmetTravller

The Industry Director for Roy Morgan Research, George Pesutto, said, “The growth of these websites demonstrates the growing demand for food content. Consumers are embracing the convenience of access to huge archives of recipes, advice and information on food. As a communications channel, food/recipe websites like Taste.com.au are important to marketers because these sites are attracting highly valuable consumers. This represents an important opportunity for new products launching in this category and wanting to generate product trial, and also in terms of reaching those highly influential consumers who also guide other consumers via ‘word of mouth’ recommendations and advice.”