The Daily Meal

The Daily Meal
Type of site	Food and drink
Available in	English
Founded	2010
Owner	Spanfeller Media Group (2010–2016); Tribune Publishing (2016–2022); Static Media (2022–present)
Founder(s)	Jim Spanfeller

The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. Launched in October 2010, it was the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group,^[1] founded by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller. In 2016, The Daily Meal, along with Spanfeller Media Group, was acquired by Tribune Publishing.^[2] Sometime between July 2022^[3] and September 2022, The Daily Meal was acquired by Static Media.^[4]

Content

The Daily Meal produces original content and videos from editors, industry insiders, and the user community. The website features nine channels (Cook, Eat/Dine, Drink, Travel, Entertain, Best Recipes, Holidays, Lists and Community) and 24 city pages (Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Twin Cities, Vancouver, and Washington D.C.).^[5] Visitors to the site can upload their own stories and recipes through the community channel. The Daily Meal also produces annual reports, including: the 50 Most Powerful People in Food, 25 Best Craft Breweries in America, 101 Best Restaurants in America and 150 Best Bars in America.^[6] The content published on The Daily Meal is available to the general public free of charge.

History and growth

The Daily Meal was launched in October 2010 by Spanfeller Media Group,^[7] a venture backed Web-based content company led by Jim Spanfeller.^[8] The Daily Meal provides both original content and that which is aggregated from various contributors and media partners.^[9] The website draws over 8 million unique visitors per month, according to Google Analytics, and ranks as one of the fastest-growing content sites of all time.

In February 2012, the site unveiled a new homepage design and launched The Daily Meal Video Network, a video platform fully owned and operated by The Daily Meal.^[10] The Video Network is available across the site’s multiple channels and offers features including step-by-step recipe guides; behind-the-scenes looks into trendy eateries; and discussions with top chefs and culinary stars.^[11] The Daily Meal launched The World of Wine in July 2013, one of the largest resources for wine lovers available on the web. Covering more than 60,000 wines, the special section merges thorough descriptions of the world's wine regions and grape varieties, with tips on wine–food pairings, recipe ideas, winemaker's notes, and suggestions for similar wines.^[12]

Editorial staff

The Daily Meal is under the editorial direction of Colman Andrews, a co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine. Andrews is also a recipient of eight James Beard Awards and the author of numerous cookbooks. His most recent work for Chronicle, The Country Cooking of Italy, was named International Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation in 2010. Colman has been a regular guest chef on NBC's Today Show, and has appeared on Good Morning America, several PBS programs, the Food Network, the Lifetime Channel, the Discovery Channel, and numerous regional cable and morning talk shows.^[13]

The Daily Meal has an editorial team of 15, based in the Financial District of New York, as well as contributors nationwide.