Meredith acquires EatingWell, launches Recipe.com

Making healthy food choices has just gotten a big new leg-up in the market. Women-focused media and marketing group, Meredith Corporation, on Monday announced its acquisition of EatingWell Media Group, a brand focused on healthy eating, as well as the launch of its new website, Recipe.com, a brand that will pair online recipes with coupons and deals. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and Meredith says that the deal will be accretive to earnings and it isn’t expected to have a noticeable impact on Meredith’s financial performance in 2012.

Based out of Charlotte, Virginia, EatingWell got its start with its flagship magazine (which I have been known to read at the gym, because nothing is more motivating than pretending like you’re actually working out for health reasons). The company has since developed a hit, fast-growing website that features healthy eating tips, food shopping advice, nutrition articles, blogs, meal preparation articles, and, of course, recipes. Additionally, the company has a Healthy-in-a-Hurry mobile app for whipping up quick, healthy recipes on the fly. The app has been rated a top foodie app by the iTunes store and top health app by Consumer Reports Health Newsletter.

And the company’s content licensing and custom marketing program provides nutrition and healthy eating articles and recipes to over 75 clients, including major consumer portals, healthcare, food, and supermarket retail partners. More than 60% of EatingWell’s revenues come from digital sources, licensing, and custom marketing.

The company has also published four cookbooks and was recently awarded the 2011 Bert Greene Award for Food Writing that Makes a Difference from the International Association of Culinary Professionals, in addition to multiple James Beard Foundation awards.

The EatingWell brand will be an ideal fit for Meredith, which caters exclusively to women and currently has an audience of some 75 million. The publishing company features such nationally renowned brands as Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Fitness, More, and American Baby.

The company plans to increase the EatingWell magazine’s circulation to 500,000, up from its current 350,000, and expand the brand’s digital presence by leveraging Meredith’s current reach of 25 million unique monthly visitors and 275 million average monthly page views.

Additionally, Meredith is teaming up with major brands, including Betty Crocker, Campbell's, Fleischmann's, French's, Keebler, Kellogg's, Morningstar Farms, Pace Salsa & Picante, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, and Swanson, for the launch of Recipe.com.

"We continue to look for opportunities to acquire and/or invest in properties we can leverage to serve consumer and client needs," said John Zieser, Meredith's Chief Development Officer, in a statement.  "We are especially focused on entities with multiple revenue streams and significant digital components."

Image source: EatingWell.com