Finding Food Bloggers And Creators

Finding Food Bloggers and Creators

Discovers food content creators across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Segments by content theme (recipes, restaurant reviews, meal prep, fine dining) and engagement quality.

Prerequisites

• APIFY_TOKEN environment variable set
• Optional: Apify MCP server installed

Inputs

Workflow

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Search food hashtags per platform
- [ ] Step 2: Collect unique creator handles
- [ ] Step 3: Enrich and score by platform
- [ ] Step 4: Cross-platform deduplication
- [ ] Step 5: Deliver segmented creator list

Step 1: Platform Hashtags

Instagram hashtags:

["#[food_niche]", "#[food_niche]recipe", "#[food_niche]love", "#[food_niche]blogger",
 "#homecook", "#foodphotography", "#recipeoftheday"]

TikTok hashtags:

["#[food_niche]", "#[food_niche]tiktok", "#cookingtiktok", "#foodtok", "#recipeoftiktok"]

YouTube search keywords:

["[food_niche] recipe", "[food_niche] cooking", "how to make [food_niche]"]

If Apify MCP is available (run for each platform):

Instagram:
Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~instagram-scraper"
Input: {"keywords": ["#[food_niche]", "#[food_niche]recipe"], "maxItems": 100}

TikTok:
Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~tiktok-scraper"
Input: {"keywords": ["#[food_niche]", "#foodtok"], "maxItems": 200}

YouTube:
Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~youtube-scraper"
Input: {"searchKeywords": ["[food_niche] recipe"], "maxResults": 50}

REST API fallback (run one at a time):

# Instagram
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~instagram-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"keywords": ["#italianrecipes", "#italianfood"], "maxItems": 100}'

# TikTok
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~tiktok-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"keywords": ["#italianrecipes", "#foodtok"], "maxItems": 200}'

Step 2: Score Per Platform

Instagram:

engagement_rate = (avg_likes + avg_comments) / follower_count * 100
ig_score = (engagement_rate / 5.0) * 0.40 + (follower_count in 5K..100K ? 1 : 0.6) * 0.30 + (posts_in_niche/10) * 0.30

TikTok:

view_ratio = avg_views / follower_count
tt_score = (view_ratio > 1 ? 1 : view_ratio) * 0.40 + (engagement_rate / 5) * 0.30 + (posts_in_niche/10) * 0.30

YouTube:

view_ratio = avg_views / subscriber_count
yt_score = (view_ratio > 0.15 ? 1 : view_ratio/0.15) * 0.40 + (avg_comments/avg_views > 0.01 ? 1 : (avg_comments/avg_views)/0.01) * 0.30 + (subscriber_count in 5K..200K ? 1 : 0.6) * 0.30

Step 3: Edge Cases

• Same creator on multiple platforms: Deduplicate by matching handle similarity; link as cross_platform_creator (higher reach value)
• Recipe aggregator accounts (not original creators): Drop accounts posting recipes from other sites — bio will mention "recipes from around the web"
• Food brand official accounts appear: Filter out verified accounts and accounts with > 500K followers
• Inactive creators: Filter last_post_date > 45 days from current date

Output Format

# Food Creator List: [FOOD_NICHE]
Creators found: [N] | Instagram: [N] | TikTok: [N] | YouTube: [N] | Cross-platform: [N] | Date: [DATE]

## Top Creators by Platform

### Instagram
| Creator | @Handle | Followers | Avg Likes | Eng Rate | Content Theme | Score |
|---------|---------|-----------|-----------|----------|---------------|-------|

### TikTok
| Creator | @Handle | Followers | Avg Views | View Ratio | Score |
|---------|---------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------|

### YouTube
| Creator | Channel | Subscribers | Avg Views | View Ratio | Score |
|---------|---------|------------|-----------|-----------|-------|

## Cross-Platform Creators (Highest Reach)
[Creator] is active on Instagram ([N] followers) + TikTok ([N] followers)

Troubleshooting

Too many professional food photographers (not bloggers): Filter out accounts where caption is consistently just a recipe title with no personal voice. Results dominated by restaurant accounts: Add "home cook" or "recipe creator" qualifiers to hashtags; search #homecook[niche]. Low engagement on food content: Food photography content typically has lower engagement than personal narrative — adjust min_engagement_rate to 1.5% for Instagram food accounts specifically.

Recommended — run_actor.js (handles waiting, output, and file saving automatically):

# Quick answer (prints table to chat)
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~instagram-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.json --format json

APIFY_TOKEN must be set in environment or .env file.