Donna Hay is a perfect case study of how one person can build a global food empire without falling into the increasingly crowded realm of celebrity-chefdom.
Arguably Australia’s best-known food writer and stylist, you’ll find Donna Hay in magazines, cookbooks, homewares and online. She is about to launch her own Donna Hay general store in Sydney; she is designing a range of kitchenware with Royal Doulton; she relaunched her website this week; she just wrapped up development of a range of home-style cookies, brownies and cupcake mixes; and her 17th book, No time to cook, hits stores in November.
Oh, and she’s looking at doing a TV show, which she shunned early in her career. “I could see the pitfalls that arise when there’s celebrity involved. I didn’t want it to be about me.”
Hay’s focus on building a strong brand rather than a celebrity image means she now feels comfortable taking the TV plunge. Should she launch a show, she says, she’ll stick to being a “Foxtel girl here” in Australia, and “do something bigger overseas,” to maintain some semblance of a private life. “There’s a lot to learn so I’m going to learn everything about it before I dive in.”
Hay has built a strong sense of what her brand is, and is not. “I said no to a stack of things,” she says, sitting in her bustling – and aromatic – Surry Hills office. “I could’ve cashed in on a big load of cash… but I also might have looked at a three-year career.
“I’ve always been a bit of a brand boffin. It goes without saying that if you manage your brand well, you have a lot more longevity.”
Hay’s mantra, “special made simple,” has been the key to her wide appeal, as has her protectiveness of what makes her brand unique. She maintains a fastidious approach to Donna Hay Magazine, which launched in 2001, capping the number of ads per issue and ensuring ad placements complement editorial. “We’ve had strict advertising rules from day one and that’s what has kept advertisers interested in the magazine – because we don’t sell out.”
No time to cook is Hay’s 17th book. The first 16 have sold over 3.3 million copies in nine languages around the world. “It’s quite indulgent to work on a book,” she says. “The magazine is more of a puzzle.
Hay genuinely lights up when she talks about her new projects, shifting forward in her seat; grabbing mock-ups; showing off the shelving for her first store, which opens in Sydney in February 2009. “I’ve always had a log of suppliers, small artisans that I buy products from when I’m travelling. There’s a lot of exclusive product,” she says of the shop that also stocks bespoke Donna Hay products including candles, lotions and organic dishwashing liquid. “It’s not as though we want to take on David Jones at its own game,” Hay jokes, but she admits she’d like to add Brisbane and Melbourne stores “in the not too distant future”.
“We are importing a lot of stuff for one shop, which [David Jones CEO] Mark McInnes would tell me is insane,” she laughs.
Hay is designing over 70 items – including crockery, kitchenware, glassware and even a children’s tea set range – for Royal Doulton. The team recently visited Hay from the UK, and the trip was fruitful: “We locked ourselves in next door [Hay’s workshop] for five days and five nights. I learnt so much. We drew nearly a thousand SKUs together,” says Hay. “It felt like there was enough power and electricity in the room to have powered the grid!”
Asked what’s next for Donna Hay, she says: “It’s an evolution. Things just happen – they’re buzzing around. You can’t shut the doors.”
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