Those who follow our @MarsFS_UK Twitter account will know we've been very busy over the last few months. During October, over 300 chefs took part in the Social Chef survey which we ran in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs. The research was completed and authored by Digital Blonde, the leading social media consultancy in hospitality, foodservice and food.
Digital Blonde has created a very extensive report which includes all the results and lots of comments from chefs and social media consultants. You will find the information really useful with some great insight from Digital Blonde to help your business. If you would like to see a full copy of the report please email marsfoodservice@proactivecompetitions.co.uk or tweet @MarsFS_UK.
If you haven't seen the report yet, here are our top ten highlights.
84.9% of chefs use social media for work with the top three networks used being Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Despite being very busy in the kitchen, more than half of respondents (52.9%) say they check social media five or more times a day. And 28.6% of chefs check their preferred networks over ten times in 24 hours.
Nine out of ten chefs agree that social media increases footfall to an establishment.
When looking at why chefs log on to social media, networking with other chefs came out top with 74.7% of respondents. Other top reasons were to post pictures of dishes they have cooked (72.6%), to hear about industry events (69%) and to read industry news (67.6%).
Chefs most like to follow or 'like' other chefs, industry news and recipe sites.
Almost two thirds of respondents (65.6%) say they would like to attend a social media course.
63.1% of chefs feel that social media should now be part of a chef's training.
87.9% of respondents agreed that social media also helped with recruitment.
Six out of ten chefs say they have bought from a supplier they have seen on social media.
78.8% of chefs have attended an event because they read about it on social media.
In the past our marketing and sales team has mainly used Twitter to keep in touch with the foodservice world. It's a great way to read about industry trends and keep up-to-date with industry campaigns such as the NACC Community Meals on Wheels Week. Chefs love to have banter on social media and it's something that we love to watch. It actually makes you feel like you are in the kitchen with them.
Mars Foodservice is at the beginning of its social media journey. This report will help us shape how we use social media to engage with chefs and the foodservice world. Going forward we want to ensure our social media presence really helps the industry and we hope you will follow us on this journey.
Thank you to every chef who completed the survey; we were delighted with the response we received. Finally, congratulations to our iPad winner Andrew Lewis, who is the chef de partie at Reed Hall at the University of Exeter. We're looking forward to seeing the #foodporn images that he shares using it.