Welcome back to Subject spotlight, the blog series where we give you quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market.

In our previous post, we shared sales and library circulation data for the Non-Fiction / Nature BISAC subject. This time, we’ll be focusing on the performance of the Non-Fiction / Cooking subject during the first quarter of 2024, with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.

Before we dive in, let’s take a look at some related data from the Canadian Book Consumer survey in anticipation of the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2023, out this spring. Respondents continue to report fewer purchases of cookbooks. Of all Non-Fiction books purchased by Canadian book consumers, 6% were cookbooks in 2020, 4% in 2021 and 2022, and 3% in 2023.

Canadians may not be buying cooking-related titles as much as they used to, but they’re still into cooking as an activity and reading subject. From the upcoming Canadian Reading and Leisure Study 2023, we learned that 69% of Canadian readers cook every day, with some of them taking their interest in cooking to the books:

26% of Canadian Non-Fiction print readers read cookbooks
21% of Canadian Non-Fiction ebook readers read cookbooks
20% of Canadian Non-Fiction audiobook readers listened to cookbooks

From the recent Tech Forum webinar, Trending now: Book subjects on the move in the Canadian market, we learned that Non-Fiction / Cooking / Beverages has seen some significant changes over the last five years. For example, the sales of books about alcoholic beverages decreased by 12% from 2018 to 2023. Interestingly, the sales of books about non-alcoholic beverages increased by 40% over the same period. Be sure to watch the recording to learn more about emerging trends in the types of books Canadians are buying.

Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s go over sales and borrowing data of Non-Fiction / Cooking during the first quarter of 2024.

Buying Non-Fiction / Cooking

As seen in the graph below, the sales of Cooking books have seen some ups and downs during the first quarter of 2023 and 2024, with year-over-year sales decreasing by 18% in January, then increasing by 80% in February, and decreasing again by 34% in March.

In 2023, there was a 55% decrease in sales from January to February, followed by a 155% increase from February to March. Overall sales decreased by 2% over the first quarter of 2023.

In 2024, there was a 1% decrease in sales from January to February, followed by a further decrease of 21% from February to March. Overall sales decreased by 21% over the first quarter of 2024.

Line graph comparing book sales between January, February, and March 2023 and 2024 in the Non-Fiction / Cooking BISAC category and a trendline illustrating the sales of all Non-Fiction print titles during the first quarter of 2024.

These are the BISAC subcategories with the highest year-over-year increase in sales:

Non-Fiction / Cooking / Comfort Food — up 194%;
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Vegetarian — up 113%; and
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Vegan — up 95%.

From January to March, the most purchased Non-Fiction / Cooking subcategories were:

Non-Fiction / Cooking / Methods — 26% of all Non-Fiction / Cooking sales;
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Regional & Cultural — 15% of all Non-Fiction / Cooking sales; and
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Courses & Dishes — 12% of all Non-Fiction / Cooking sales.

Borrowing Non-Fiction / Cooking

Year-over-year loans for Non-Fiction / Cooking titles decreased by 23% in January, increased by 5% in February, and then decreased again by 23% in March. However, despite these fluctuations, there was an overall increase of 16% in loans from January to March for both years.

Line graph comparing book loans between January, February, and March 2023 and 2024 in the Non-Fiction / Cooking BISAC category and a trendline illustrating the loans of all Non-Fiction print titles during the first quarter of 2024.

Year-over-year renewals decreased by 19% in January, increased by 3% in February, and decreased by 28% in March. Overall, renewals increased by 20% from January to March 2024. In comparison, during the same period in 2023, renewals saw a larger increase of 36%.

Line graph comparing book renewals between January, February, and March 2023 and 2024 in the Non-Fiction / Cooking BISAC category and a trendline illustrating the renewals of all Non-Fiction print titles during the first quarter of 2024.

Which Non-Fiction / Cooking subcategories were the most popular in Canadian libraries? From January to March 2024, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2023:

Non-Fiction / Cooking / Equipment & Utensils — loans up 15,900% and renewals up 900%;
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Farm to Table — loans up 100% but renewals down 100%; and
Non-Fiction / Cooking / History — loans up 52% but renewals down 9%.

During the first quarter of 2024, the most circulated Non-Fiction / Cooking subcategories were:

Non-Fiction / Cooking / Methods — 25% of all loans of Non-Fiction / Cooking and 26% of all renewals of Non-Fiction / Cooking;
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Regional & Cultural — 18% of all loans of Non-Fiction / Cooking and 16% of all renewals of Non-Fiction / Cooking; and
Non-Fiction / Cooking / Health & Healing — 13% of all loans of Non-Fiction / Cooking and 14% of all renewals of Non-Fiction / Cooking.