The Next Course: Sam Koch @kocheatsfood Interview

I have been making videos on the internet for over 15 years and have been doing it fulltime for almost a decade! Watching the industry evolve and seeing fresh talent emerge never gets old. That's why I started this series "The Next Course,” an interview series to spotlight rising creators who are making waves in the community.

But here's the best part: I want your input! Every creator I feature will come straight from your suggestions. So, let me know in the comments who you think deserves the spotlight next, and keep an eye on my IG stories where I’ll be crowdsourcing ideas there too. I can't wait to discover the next generation of creators with you! This time we are getting to know Sam Koch aka @kocheatsfood

Name: Sam Koch

Handle: @kocheatsfood

Location: NYC

Occupation: Food Creator

How would you describe your content?

Bold, funny and built to grab attention fast. I consider myself a storyteller, and aim to tell the story of food in under 30 seconds.

Why do you make food content?

Nothing makes me happier than sharing a good meal, and food brings people together, so I want to share that positive energy with the world.

What’s the piece of content you are most proud of?

My recent collaboration with Utopia Bagels for July 4th. I reached out with the idea, had such a great time filming with them, and the video got 1.2M views so I was proud of the execution from start to finish. I knew it had the potential to be big.

What’s the piece of content that has performed the best?

One of my earliest videos where I went to Quality Bistro and did a review on their $38 Bread & Butter. Honestly I was just messing around and never expected the video to go so crazy. It's currently at 3.6M views.

What camera do you use?

I have an iPhone 14 Pro but use an app called Filmic Pro, that allows you to manipulate your iphone camera like a professional camera. Best investment i've made.

What's a type of cuisine you haven't explored that much of, and want to dig deeper into?

Indian Food for sure. I'd like to say my stomach is pretty good (minus some Jewish genetics of course), but my family never grew up eating Indian food so I'm curious and want to go with the right people! Semma, Adda and Bungalow are on my list :)

What social media platform do you like the most?

TikTok, they've shown the most love and the comments have been hilarious

Why do you post online?

I always believed I was a front of camera personality, even though my background involved producing content for others (podcasts, etc.) I was never able to get any of my past clients/talent to move the meter the way I wanted to, so I said screw it, I'm gonna do it myself. I also had a lot of encouragement from my childhood friend (and now influencer) @formerteenheartthrob, who said early on that I had something here and should pursue it. So I leaned in.

What do you want out of this?

I want to turn my food content into a business, launch some sort of a product or full on food brand one day, maybe even my own food festival (that'd be fun). I also want to springboard this into creating content for notable food brands.

Why do you think people follow you?

Because I create content for the viewer in mind before anything else. And I think my personality and my voice makes me unique.

Anything else you want to tell everyone or promote?

Shoutout to everyone who has shown love and encouragement so far. Where should I go next?

Any questions for me?

As someone who also came up in the production world, what was the aha moment when you knew you had something tangible with the food content? And what is the biggest piece of advice you'd give to someone like myself, who is looking at this from a business perspective and not just a hobby?

I don’t know if there was ever an aha moment, I truly have always just looked at my content creation online as the place I could just be as creative as I wanted to be. There is something special about the collaboration that it takes to make a TV show, but there will always frustration when you don’t have full control. To me, just having an idea, executing, and having it succeed or fail based solely on my decisions is the best thing in the world. I think now more than ever it’s coming up with “what’s your thing?” Social Media is all about rinse and repeat content, and what’s the hook, gimmick, whatever, that’s going to keep people coming back.