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

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
startUrls	array	✅	[]	Instagram URLs — profiles, hashtags, locations, audio pages, reels
until	string	Optional	—	Scrape posts until this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum posts to return
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

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.