“Eating has become one of the most important distinguishing features”

In October BEEF! is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The first food and lifestyle magazine for men was developed by Jan Spielhagen in 2009. He is still the Chief Editor of the successful publication today.
BEEF! is published six times a year with a circulation of 60,000 copies, around 40 percent of which are sent out to subscribers. "BEEF! addresses men, who passionately surround themselves with high-end materials and food," according to the profile description of the Hamburg-based publishing company, Gruner + Jahr.

Mr. Spielhagen, how did you come up with the idea of developing a food magazine especially for men? And did you think it was going to be so successful at the time?

Spielhagen: No, of course I never dreamt that at all, the success totally knocked us for six. Although I already knew a lot of men at the time, who had with great passion and full of energy turned cooking into one of their most important lifestyle themes. Half of my circle of friends was made up of such men, who loved barbecuing, experimenting with gas, charcoal and wood chip grills, cooked elaborate menus, invited their friends and families to huge feasts at the weekends, took espresso machines apart and put them back together again and who were really interested in depth about highest quality meat, seafood, fish, wine, spirits and the many kitchen appliances. That was when we developed BEEF! for these men.

If you look back at the past decade, what has changed most over this period of time: eating culture or men?

Spielhagen: The significance of the theme nutrition for the individual in society has undergone the most change. The way we eat and what we eat – further defines our personality - consciously and sub-consciously. Eating has perhaps become one of the most important distinguishing features. We all have a totally different image of a 23-year-old vegan who grows his own vegetables on the balcony, so he can ferment it later. Or of a 23-year-old fast food fan, who breakfasts at Starbucks, orders pizzas in the evening and whose favourite drink is Mezzo Mix...While drawing up food profiles the profile of the well-informed man, who very consciously eats meat, who cooks for the whole family, indeed better than his partner and who orders the ingredients from selected online dealers, arose. For some men this profile is very attractive.

Shortly before the tenth anniversary you are going to be actively present with BEEF! at spoga+gafa in Cologne. On the three days of the show one can experience "BEEF! ON STAGE" in Hall 8 daily. What can the visitors look forward to there?

Spielhagen: Primarily an authentic brand experience. BEEF! is not only on the stage, BEEF! is actually taking part there. The editorial team will be on-site, our chefs will prepare typical BEEF! recipes, we will process unusual ingredients and discuss the new, important meat trends with the trade show visitors. The spirit of the brand will be tangible - and we are going to have fantastic fun.

For further information: spogagafa.de/beef and beef.de