From Consumer to B2B: How Culinary Schools Became CKBK's Growth Engine

Most subscription platforms focus exclusively on individual consumers or business customers, but rarely both. CKBK founder Matthew Cockerill discovered that his "Spotify for cookbooks" had unexpected appeal in educational markets, leading to a thriving B2B revenue stream alongside consumer subscriptions.

On the Levels Podcast, Matthew shared how culinary schools and educational institutions became a major growth driver for CKBK, now serving universities like NYU and UCLA. His experience offers valuable insights for consumer platforms looking to expand into institutional markets.

The Unexpected B2B Discovery

CKBK launched as a consumer subscription service targeting home cooks and food enthusiasts. But early usage patterns revealed professional cooks and culinary students were also finding significant value in the platform.

"What's kind of has been interesting is that it's not just the sort of home cooking the consumer who is embracing cookbook. We have a lot of professional cooks as well, professional chefs, and it's also now increasingly a big part of culinary education."

This organic adoption by professional users suggested an unmet need in educational markets that CKBK could address more systematically.

The Educational Content Gap

Matthew discovered that culinary education had lagged far behind other academic disciplines in adopting digital resources. While university students in other fields had access to comprehensive online databases and journals, culinary students were stuck with outdated approaches.

"So in other areas, obviously university, colleges, you have a lot of databases, you have a lot of online journals to support your education. But poor old culinary students, hospitality students pretty much had nothing."

This gap represented a significant opportunity. Culinary programs were still relying on single textbooks or small collections of physical cookbooks, limiting student access to diverse culinary knowledge.

The Institution Sales Approach

CKBK began targeting educational institutions directly, positioning their comprehensive cookbook library as an essential educational resource. The value proposition was compelling: instead of students sharing limited copies of expensive textbooks, entire programs could access thousands of professional cookbooks.

"And so they were reliant still on having one copy of some doorstep of a book. But now a lot of those culinary schools are being able to give access to our whole library of a thousand books, just all fully searchable."

This approach transformed CKBK from a consumer convenience into an educational necessity for modern culinary programs.

Scaling Through Partnerships

Rather than selling to institutions one by one, Matthew began building partnerships with organizations that could reach multiple educational customers simultaneously. This approach accelerated B2B growth while reducing sales costs.

"We recently started working in South America with a very well-connected pastry chef called Luciano Carrera, has been both doing, well actually creating lots of video content for Cookbook, but also doing some great outreach work with the huge number of educational institutions training tens of thousands of cooks in Brazil."

These partnership relationships provide access to networks of educational institutions that would be difficult to reach through direct sales efforts.

Diverse Institutional Markets

CKBK's institutional success extends beyond traditional culinary schools. The platform now serves a wide range of educational and institutional customers with different needs and budgets.

"We've got universities like NYU and UCLA and we also have more technical colleges, have high schools. We recently signed our first public library program. There's a public library system in Santa Clara in California."

This diversity provides revenue stability and demonstrates the platform's broad educational value across different institutional contexts.

The Public Library Breakthrough

Public library adoption represents a particularly interesting market expansion. Libraries provide community access to educational resources, making CKBK's cookbook collection available to patrons who might not subscribe individually.

"They have access for all their public library patrons."

This model creates new user acquisition channels while serving CKBK's broader mission of making high-quality culinary knowledge more accessible.

Content Strategy for Education

Serving educational markets influenced CKBK's content acquisition strategy. The platform prioritized professional culinary textbooks and authoritative reference materials that complement consumer-focused cookbooks.

"We have a professional bookshelf, which we just bring together and tag all the books which are really specifically professional."

This dual content strategy allows CKBK to serve both casual home cooks and serious culinary students from the same platform while highlighting relevant content for each audience.

Pricing Strategy for Institutions

Educational pricing requires different approaches than consumer subscriptions. Institutions need multi-user access, longer contract terms, and pricing that works within educational budgets.

Matthew's team developed institutional pricing models that provide value for schools while creating predictable revenue streams for CKBK. These longer-term contracts offer more stability than month-to-month consumer subscriptions.

The Learning Experience Advantage

CKBK's educational value extends beyond content access. Students can interact directly with cookbook authors, ask questions about techniques, and get real-time feedback on their cooking attempts.

"So yeah, it's been great to see how it does, how it has an impact all the way through from just what am I going to cook tonight through to how is someone going to become the next Michelin star chef."

This interactive learning environment creates educational value that traditional textbooks can't match.

Geographic Expansion Through Education

International educational partnerships provide pathways for geographic expansion that might be difficult to achieve through consumer marketing alone.

The partnership with Le Cordon Bleu Brazil demonstrates how educational relationships can open entire new markets while providing localized content and language support.

Revenue Diversification Benefits

Institutional revenue provides stability that complements more volatile consumer subscription revenue. Educational contracts typically span full academic years, creating predictable income streams.

This diversification also reduces dependence on consumer marketing channels and provides protection against economic downturns that might affect individual subscription spending.

Sales Process Adaptation

Selling to institutions requires different sales processes than consumer acquisition. Educational customers have longer decision cycles, multiple stakeholders, and specific procurement requirements.

Matthew's team had to develop new sales materials, case studies, and relationship management processes designed for institutional buyers rather than individual consumers.

Content Usage Insights

Institutional customers provide valuable data about how culinary content gets used in educational settings. This information helps CKBK improve their platform and identify additional content that would benefit educational users.

Understanding educational usage patterns also informs product development priorities, highlighting features that matter most for learning environments.

Future Institutional Opportunities

The success in culinary education suggests opportunities in adjacent markets. Corporate training programs, restaurant groups, and other professional food service organizations might benefit from CKBK's content library.

Matthew continues exploring partnerships that can scale institutional access while maintaining the platform's core value proposition.

Key Takeaways

• Professional users often emerge organically: Consumer platforms should monitor for unexpected professional adoption patterns
• Educational markets have different technology adoption curves: Some academic disciplines lag in digital resource adoption, creating opportunities
• Partnership selling scales faster than direct sales: Working with well-connected intermediaries can accelerate institutional customer acquisition
• Institutional revenue provides stability: Longer-term educational contracts complement more volatile consumer subscription revenue
• Content strategy must serve dual audiences: Platforms can serve both consumer and professional markets with appropriate content curation

Matthew's institutional expansion demonstrates how consumer platforms can successfully enter B2B markets by identifying unmet professional needs and adapting their value proposition accordingly. The key is recognizing organic professional adoption and building systematic approaches to serve institutional customers.

Listen to the full conversation with Matthew Cockerill on the Levels Podcast to learn more about expanding consumer platforms into institutional markets and building diversified revenue streams.