Cookpad allows users to register and access all recipes for free, but have premium features available only to the paid users in the domestic market.Ĭookpad charges ¥280 ($2.6) per month for its premium subscription service, which allows paid users to save up to 3,000 recipes, view calories info on recipes, and also get members-only coupons. Even so, growth has also been relatively flat. RiskĬookpad’s premium subscription business appears to only work in Japan. Nonetheless, for now, we initiate our coverage with a neutral rating. On the other hand, we see a promising monetization potential in the online fresh grocery same-day delivery business recently launched in 2018, Cookpad Mart. Other forms of monetization, such as revenue sharing agreement and advertising, have also not been working well as revenue has declined from ~¥17 billion in 2016 to merely ~¥12 billion ($111 million) in 2019. Its best monetization model, Japan-only premium subscription service, has been growing in single-digits over the last two years. Monetization has been Cookpad’s biggest issue.

Despite the ambitious global vision, we think that it will continue to see a limited upside potential overseas with its core subscription business model. Cookpad (OTCMKTS: CKPDY, TYO: 2193) is a Japanese food recipe-sharing platform with a presence in over 71 countries and services in 26 languages.