Appetite Magazine, one of Singapore’s main food magazine, has just announced that it will be discontinuing its print magazine.
The January issue, will be its final issue:
The Facebook announcement read:
Dear Readers,
This is to inform you that Edipresse Singapore has closed Appetite magazine with immediate effect. The January 2014 issue will be its last.
Despite being well-received and winning second place for food magazines in the 2013 Magazine of the Year awards, we have come to the conclusion that the advertising market and revenue trend for food publications is insufficient for the continued publication of Appetite. We have seen this trend work against even established international food magazines such as Gourmet, which was closed after over 60 years of publishing.
While it is never easy to close any title, we believe that this move is a positive one as it allows us to focus on our core titles in the premium and luxury segment. Singapore Tatler, Tatler Homes, Tatler Weddings and Singapore’s Best Restaurants were all highly successful in 2013, with each of these titles exceeding their revenue targets. Resources that were previously dedicated to publishing Appetite will be invested into these titles and our online sites for even greater growth.
We wish to thank you for your support of Appetite throughout its years of publication. We are proud of the high standards of the magazine and the tremendous reception and loyalty it received from readers. We look forward to continuing our relationship with you through our other print and digital publications.
Appetite is a publication of Edipresse Singapore, a division of Group Edipresse SA, a publicly listed international media company.
Headquartered in Switzerland, Edipresse’s main activities are newspaper and magazine publishing and digital media. The Group employs 3,000 people worldwide to run a diverse portfolio of more than 200 titles and websites. Some of its popular titles include Asia Tatler magazines, which has become synonymous with high society, luxury lifestyle, art, culture, good taste and fashion.
Appetite on the other hand, is targeted at a new and emerging generation of gourmets – foodies with a discerning and cosmopolitan outlook, broad horizons and a insatiable appetite for food, wine, travel and luxury.
The discontinuation of Appetite is hardly surprising, as it relies a lot on advertising to sustain itself. More and more users are going online, causing the decline in its circulation and advertising revenue. Singapore Press Holdings, the citystate’s largest print publisher, has also suffered a fall in advertising and circulation revenue in the third fiscal quarter of 2013 – despite posting an 81 per cent increase in net profit.
The decline of readers on print publication such as newspaper and magazines can be attributed to the rise of Internet penetration: more and more readers go online to read up on latest news and information as online news websites are able to publish stories even before the newspaper and magazines has gone to print.
Other than that, the rise of bloggers who are able to create interesting content also contributed to the decline of magazine revenues. New and interesting content are also generated by digital companies focusing on the food category. Notably, one such company is mobile food application Burpple, which generate content with catchy titles such as 7 Ways to Eat Differently in 2014, 30 Famous Local Foods To Eat In Singapore Before You Die, or 15 Cafes with Free Wi-Fi in Singapore And Great Coffee.
This makes it hard for magazines to curate interesting and exclusive stories, and provide compelling reasons for readers to keep on staying loyal.
Do you still buy magazines?
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