Food influencer: a whole world of recipes, cocktails and vineyards

They know how to influence the taste of those who follow them, they can teach, even to the most awkward, how to cook a awless poached egg, or how to tell a Brunello from a Barbera: these are the food in uencers, who, with their recipes and pro-tips, have taken the social networks by storm.
A common feature of food and wine influencers is that, in most cases, they have started by accident. «It all started as a game – so Benedetta Rossi, social-cook who, on her blog www. fattoincasadabenedetta.it, prepares traditional Italian dishes.
When I used to work in my parents’ holiday farm and prepared breakfast and desserts, our guests often asked for the recipes of my jams and cakes. I, a geek, to be nice to them, beside giving them the hand-written recipe, loaded a video on YouTube, where they could clearly watch the whole procedure. One year on, my father showed me that some of my videos had more than 100K visualizations. Incredible! So, again with my husband’s support, I decided to do something more professional, without great expectations, but thinking: “Just in case, one never knows”. With much dedication, we kept on uploading videos until our dedication was rewarded».
If the step from the kitchen to the blog is short, successfully going from the office to the web is a bit harder. This is the story of Chiara Maci, who, after a major role in Sky’s marketing division, decided to launch the blog Sorelle in pentola with her sister Angela, which enjoyed instant success. Three months later she was selected for the TV show Cuochi e Fiamme on La7, which was so popular that she soon started to host a show of her own: Vita da food blogger (A food-blogger’s life). “What my followers like most is that my profiles not only talk about cuisine, but also feature moments of my private life”. Through the web she announced that she was expecting a baby-girl and also her love affair with the chef Filippo La Mantia, father of her second son, expected in February.
If, in the food universe, recipes and tips are the key to becoming an influencer, when it comes to wine, the task is more daunting, as wine lovers are generally very well-prepared. «With my colleagues-followers – so Walter Gosso, Bacardi Global Travel Retail – we talk about recipes, products, courses, techniques, job opportunities, everything focuses on the professional sphere. For my followers who are keen on wine and spirits, there’s a wealth of tidbits, ranging from the best bars and wine-bars, to my favourite cocktails, the ones I love to drink and the ones I love to concoct, the brands I choose and the ones I dislike… There is so much to talk about, that sometimes they even inspire questions that I had never asked myself. »
Some start using social media to bypass issues connected with the location of their business, and eventually become stars. «Sicily – states Marilena Barbera, Sicilian winemaker entrepreneur – is far from the rest of the world and Menfi is a little village in the province of Agrigento. I started twitting when this media was not much used by Italian wine-makers and traders. Today social networks generate 25% of my business’s turnover».