The experience economy is on the rise, with consumers more interested in spending their money on worthwhile activities than flashy products. As the demand for new experience has grown, so too has the supply of unique experiences. One of the most popular opportunities for young adults on the lookout for fun activities is taking a cooking class. The cooking class industry is booming, with classes for all styles, groups sizes and skill levels. Cozymeal, the poster child of this boom, has gone from a small startup in San Francisco to a large company with cooking instructors in all major US markets in just a few short years. Once you begin to dig down into the benefits of taking a cooking class it is easy to why they are so successful.
Cooking Classes are Fun
The first reason that many experience seekers are taking cooking classes is a very simple one. It’s a great way to spend an evening or an afternoon. People enjoy being engaged and challenged, and there’s a great deal of satisfaction that comes from creating something. With a cooking class, you get to reap all of those benefits. When students follow along and learn how to make a delicious meal with the help of their instructor they get the enjoyment of carrying out the steps and the satisfying reveal of their final product when the cooking process is complete.
Students Learn Useful Skills
It’s not all about fun and games when it comes to cooking classes. There are many different ways to pass your time if all you’re looking for is some light fun. Miniature golf is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon, but you’re unlikely to apply your ability to putt a ball over a narrow bridge very often in the real world. That’s not the case with a cooking class. Long after students walk out the door at the end of their cooking class they can still take the recipes they learned to create, and the techniques they used to execute those recipes and use them in order to create new experiences. One class can yield a lifetime of experiencing better meals.
Friends and Family Love It
The best part about learning a new skill like cooking isn’t your ability to use it to give yourself better meals. While it’s fun to make yourself a better meal that’s nothing compared to the enjoyment of making a meal for your friends or loved ones. Everybody loves a delicious, home-cooked meal, and when a student learns how to provide those meals they ensure that they will always be a popular choice to host a family get together or dinner with friends. The cooking class becomes more than just an experience for the student, but also the opportunity to then create experiences of their own for people they care about.
Classes Are a Great Date Night
There are few decisions which can lead to more stress and anxiety than deciding on a date night activity. Whether you’re in a long term relationship looking to make the most out of a rare night out without the kids, or just made a new connection and need the perfect opportunity for a first date, taking a cooking class offers a solution to leave both parties happy. Going on an experience-focused date like a cooking class helps you create memories with your date partner, and there’s no better way to establish a bond in a relationship than with shared experience.
Doing It for the ‘Gram
It’s no coincidence that the expansion of the experience economy has coincided with an increase in the presence of social media in our daily lives. As more and more users spend more and more time on sites like Facebook and Instagram the desire to have a social media worthy experience has never been stronger. While taking pictures of fancy meals at pricey restaurants is so popular on social media as to become a cliche, there is a way to one-up a friend who just posted from a Michelin star eatery — posting a menu-ready meal made with your own hands. Experience-driven consumers with an eye for their online presence are turning to cooking classes for the opportunity to learn a new skill, create a beautiful plate with those same new skills then show off the excellent end product of all of that hard work. It’s a can’t beat option for showing off on social media.
