You’ve probably already seen her on social networks. The Tasting Mauritius cook has managed to gather a real community around her Mauritian and now Malagasy recipes! Discover the journey of this entrepreneurial mother for whom the video medium on the Internet has and will have a crucial importance for communication.
Hello Rova, can you introduce yourself?
I am a mother of two children. My husband and I left France for Madagascar where we lived for 3 years. Then we continued our adventure in Mauritius where we have been living for 4 years now. I went to a higher school of visual communication: Créapole ESDI in Paris. At first I hesitated between this one or a cooking school but I chose communication. Today Tasting Mauritius is certainly a mixture of both.
Can you also introduce our readers to the principle of Tasting?
I managed to write a tagline, which is also a form of promise that I try to offer: “For the curious who have taste”. I think it defines Tasting Mauritius and my editorial objective quite well. Starting from Mauritian products, brands and places while trying to surprise. On Tasting Mauritius, the fans are mainly Mauritian millennials but the audience is slowly expanding to Madagascar, which is why we are starting to work in parallel on Tasting Madagascar.
Your video platform has had a meteoric rise in one year, can you explain why, how and how with some key figures?
Yes indeed I was a bit surprised at first. And the hardest part was being able to deal with what was going on. I think that Mauritians love cooking, going out and sharing all this with friends or family… and they are right because the Mauritian culinary landscape is very rich. Regarding the numbers, we had 65 000 fans in 1 year of existence. The most viewed video was that of the Minomelette with more than 525,000 views (a reach of 720,000) followed closely by the Candia milk eggs video with 458,000 views. I’m looking at these stats for the first time, but in one year it represents 4 million minutes viewed and 8 million video views
How did you get the idea to create it?
I am above all passionate about food culture and brands. One year ago, I decided to open my Facebook page Tasting Mauritius in order to continue to share my recipes, my culinary discoveries here in Mauritius to my family and friends that I left in France. I love discovering new flavours, new products and new places. Creative by nature, I like to revisit or divert recipes… The goal was to surprise and amaze my family and friends. Then, quite quickly, people started to follow me and exchange with me. That’s what pushed me and encouraged me to keep posting my ideas.
Are you able to monetize Tasting?
Brands quickly asked us to use their products in my recipes and thus be visible on Tasting Mauritius. Hotels and restaurants have also called on us to produce reports on these different places and events… We didn’t expect it right away. We therefore had to structure ourselves and for that we were well advised and accompanied by a large group and a passionate team. Thanks to them, the Tasting Mauritius brand is protected and the company Tasting Communication was created at the end of August. Tasting should be quickly monetizable by now.
What are the prospects for the platform?
We’d like to spend a lot more time developing our ideas and offers (today it’s only in our spare time). From next year we would like to be a reference in food content and knowledge of the Mauritian market and thus become a new media that cannot be ignored. We also aim to roll out the brand fairly quickly on Madagascar, the page has been up and running for a few months and engagement is very strong. A physical presence before the end of the year would already be a nice goal. But all this can hardly be done quickly without investors!
How do you shoot and edit your videos?
At first, the choice was made for financial reasons… I simply took what I had at hand: my smartphone. Today I continue to shoot my content only with smartphones. They are very practical and always at hand. The mobile side is also very interesting (anywhere, anytime). Good smartphones allow us to take excellent videos and photos. It’s my go-to tool. Then for the editing, I use my MacBook Pro and Final Cut.
What is the importance of video on Facebook for you?
It is essential, and Facebook has understood very well the new expectations of users. Facebook has made video social and accessible from anywhere. It’s not for nothing that the social network is entering this race. He also announced a few weeks ago the launch of Watch, a platform dedicated solely to videos.
Any advice for those who want to get into media content?
Be passionate about its content and theme. And above all, don’t be discouraged when you are horribly copied. A short time ago I read a beautiful phrase that I share with you: “Follow your dreams, they know the way”.
