SBS’ Feast magazine to close with four job losses
The next issue of Feast magazine will be the last with four jobs to go with Pacific Magazines CEO Peter Zavecz admitting it is “no longer commercially sustainable to publish”.
Pacific Magazines has produced the publication, which celebrated the broad range of food and culture around Australia, on behalf of SBS for the last four years.
In last week’s Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures the magazine dropped 12.9 per cent to 32,290 copies sold from 37,090 for the six months previously.
Leon Coningham, head of distribution at SBS said in a statement the magazine was “integral in building on SBS’s reputation for quality food content” adding “we remain committed to producing even more diverse and engaging food content for our audiences to enjoy”.
A shame, I’ve enjoyed subscribing to Feast. Well written, down to earth content without the hype of many food mags.
I presume Pac Mags will be refunding the balances of people’s subscriptions?
So many people’s FAVOURITE food mag. Alix and the team have produced something really special in Feast. Very sad news.
Oh no!!
Four job losses are a bit of an understatement. What about all the freelances??
May not be popular, but was quality.
Heartbreaking 🙁 I love food magazines and Feast used to treat me a great freast upon food and information….. why dont you try expanding your presence digitally ? Would suggest you to be part of some popular Digital Magazine/Book store which can break all geographical barriers. I recently gazed through an interesting app named Magzter. They are a leading Global Digital Magazine/Book store which had a collection of more than 5000 magazines and 25000 books. They do lot of event based promotions which is so exciting and irresistable. they have a 24 million user base that might be the right audience to tap for all ur marketing needs.
Such a great mag. I worked on the first five issues of Feast and had the opportunity to see how passionate Alix and the team were about creating a publication that simply has no rivals. What a shame to see it go.
All very well us saying how sad it is, but unless advertisers support print rather than focus digitally and consumers keep buying mags rather than wasting time on facebook and other pointless web activity this will be one of many more publication closures.
@ P-Dog….
Let me guess….Career mag/print sales?
Nobody else in the industry would refer to digital as ‘pointless web activity’ ….
@Discerning Hipster. Just to clarify I don’t refer to all web activity as a waste of time… of course not… just a lot of it, like scrolling through my facebook feed or watching Youtube videos.. (personally.. I’m guilty)
Long time subscriber. The pages are so wonderfully illustrated full of food and culture I’ve loved reading about many other countries especially the festive traditions.
Such a shame. Well done to all the staff at Feast.
I love SBS and Feast magazine but why would I pay for a monthly SBS food magazine when so many SBS recipes are available for free permanently on their website?
Disappointing but not surprising. Audiences are swinging away from print. As a result, so too are advertisers and brands — not only is digital where their audiences are going, but it (digital) is a far cheaper way than print to reach consumers. They can also engage with them more effectively than print — unlike print, digital is a two way channel. I suspect the economics failed to stack up — the cost to produce, print and distribute a print product with a circ of just over 30k would not be insignificant. irrespective of arguments/opinions about quality of print v digital content, the fact is that for brands and advertisers, the Cost to reach the same number via digital channels would be a fraction of this. Sign o’ the times.
Such sad news. I really look forward to receiving my copy each month. I feel very sorry for the staff and contributors. I also feel a bit sorry for myself as I not long ago renewed my subscription.
Noooo. Best food magazine in Australia! Maybe SBS did not push it enough.
Devastated- love this magazine- -changed from Goumet traveller after 22 years-
Loved all the features on hawker/street food and the six countries-one ingredient-and my neighbours recipe- I don’t buy so many cookbooks now because of the internet but I cannot get used to reading on my iPad- still just love a good book or magazine and tactile pleasure of flipping through the page
Damn shame – tears before bedtime when last issue arrives
So sorry to see such and interesting magazine stop publishing. Feast had the edge over Gourmet and Delicious because of it’s “non posh” recipes Interesting people who cooked them. RIP feast , and brick bats to the decision makers who pulled the plug.!