‘Wisconsin Foodie’ buys Edible Milwaukee
Magazine focused on area food scene
The Emmy Award-winning local television series “Wisconsin Foodie” is expanding to print with the acquisition of Edible Milwaukee magazine.
The magazine, which focuses on the food scene from Kenosha to Sheboygan counties, is one of three Edible magazines in Wisconsin and among more than 80 across the United States. The others in Wisconsin are based in Madison and Door County.
“Wisconsin Foodie” producer and founder Arthur Ircink and the show’s director of strategy, Wendi Devan, will take over publication of the magazine, which is distributed free at food-related businesses.
Jennifer Ede launched Edible Milwaukee in 2013 after moving to Milwaukee from Boston. Ede sold her stake in the business and is moving to Seattle.
Ede will consult with Ircink and Devan through the fall issue of the quarterly magazine and then will pursue a job in health care communications, she said.
At a time when digital publication often is advocated over print, Ircink, a selfdescribed magazine geek, is excited to take over publication of Edible Milwaukee, which also has a website.
Ircink mused about creating a magazine that lingers on coffee tables, its readers unable to bring themselves to discard it because of compelling photographs, artwork or writing.
“That’d be a fun place to be,” he said.
Ircink, who considered launching the magazine five years ago when the license from the national Edible company became available, and Devan both said the mission of the magazine is compatible with that of “Wisconsin Foodie.” They see it as another way to connect with their community of consumers and producers of local foods.
Edible Milwaukee also is expected to offer more videos and increase its presence on social media.
The look of the magazine eventually will be substantially different, Ircink and Devan said, and could add controversial topics to its articles, which frequently feature the area’s small growers and producers of foods, much as “Wisconsin Foodie” does.
“It’s an open canvas right now,” Ircink said.
The new publishers said the magazine will continue to be issued at least quarterly but could add special issues through the course of the year.
They’re also in talks with the other Wisconsin Edible magazines to explore sharing content among the magazines, to appeal to readers who travel, they said.
Besides being the producer of “Wisconsin Foodie,” Ircink is an independent filmmaker now in production on a documentary, “American Cheese,” about Dodgeville’s Uplands Cheese Co., and a commercial director with Circle Pictures. Devan, who worked nine years for Kohl’s Corp., is the cofounder with her husband, Matthew, of SA Braai, a maker of South African sausages, chutney and spice blends.