- “Where Food Is the Celebrity” -

NEWTOWN, CT., March 2, 2009… Propelled by strong growth in circulation and advertising, Fine Cooking has unveiled a fresh redesigned look - under the new stewardship of Editor-in-chief Laurie Buckle - to emphasize and celebrate Fine Cooking’s unique 100% focus on food and cooking in an active engaging atmosphere where food is the celebrity. Fine Cooking’s mission to give today’s cooks, no matter what their level of culinary skill, the knowledge and confidence to become a better cook and enhance their enjoyment of all things food is more compelling today than ever.

Fine Cooking is enjoying standout success in the marketplace – with growth in rate base, subscriptions and single copy sales. Especially on newsstand, where most magazine unit sales are sharply trending down, Fine Cooking is up and outsells well-known competitors like Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Food & Wine, despite having a significantly higher cover price than the other epicurean titles.

“Fine Cooking is not just another food magazine. We’re about the hows, and more importantly the whys, of cooking. Most food publications have become more lifestyle magazines, entertaining the reader rather than addressing the cook. But, at Fine Cooking, we always put the food first. We’re committed to helping readers make good decisions about buying and preparing food - fulfilling today’s heightened interest in all things healthy and fresh. We’re also deeply devoted to Fine Cooking’s traditions of triple-tested, thoroughly reliable recipes and technique-rich stories, while providing ideas and inspiration for every level of home cook,” said Ms. Buckle.

“This is a dynamic time in the epicurean media industry and we are grateful to be the brand that is expanding and innovating to meet reader’s and advertiser’s needs in our category. Today’s heightened interest in food and cooking gives Fine Cooking a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of our unique position to capitalize on our continued growth, to invest in our product platforms, build for the future and benefit from our success. We are also boosting our national sales team and enlarging our marketing staff, as we add new marketing programs both in print and digital that will afford many unique advertising opportunities,” added publisher, Maria Taylor.

In today’s economic environment, cooking at home is a growing priority, but it’s fun and entertaining, too. Fine Cooking sees many marketplace trends contributing to their success, all of which should be very encouraging to advertisers in the category:

• “Eating in” is up and “eating out” is down in each of the past 3 years.
• 91% of Americans say they eat healthier when dining at home.
• The number of Americans who say they prepared food from “scratch” in the past 6 months has reached 128 million; an increase of 10% since 2003.
• The number of Americans who say they “Cook for Fun” has gone up by nearly 11 million; an increase of 32% in just 5 years.

Already reaching over 2 million readers each year through its magazine and website, Fine Cooking is poised to attract an even larger, loyal audience of passionate cooks in 2009.

About Taunton Press
The Taunton Press, www.taunton.com, has been a trusted source of valuable information and inspiration on the house and home, including home building and design, gardening, woodworking, fiber arts and cooking since 1975. Millions of professionals and consumers purchase Taunton's books, magazines, DVDs, and use its Web sites to improve their skills and expand their horizons. Taunton Press is a privately held multi-media publishing company headquartered in Newtown, Connecticut.