Let's eat! Why Brands Are Turning to Food to Diversify
Accessible to all and deeply sensory, food holds a unique power: the ability to bring people together. Staged dinners, pop-up restaurants during Fashion Week, bakeries turned into party venues, or running clubs ending around a plate of pasta… food is emerging as a preferred diversification territory for brands across all industries, as well as for venues and communities seeking to create memorable collective experiences. Candice Alvarez, a NellyRodi consultant specializing in hospitality and Food & Beverage, deciphers the phenomenon.
Food is no longer just about consumption. What matters now is that the experience lingers—in our minds, on our taste buds, and in the photo galleries of our phones as much as on our social media feeds.
For brands, hosting dinners has become an activity in its own right, a way to build loyalty among VICs and reveal another facet of their universe. Of course, they rarely do it alone and increasingly call on specialists who have multiplied in recent years.
At events imagined by the collective We Are Ona, gastronomy becomes a spectacle: scenographed, theatricalized, and carefully staged, transforming brand dinners into immersive performances. The same logic was at play at Matter & Shape, where Balbosté created a restaurant—with lunch and dinner services—throughout Fashion Week.
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In these spaces and moments, players from many different fields come together, feeding various industries through the senses, emotions, and creativity.
For brands, food is also at the heart of new activities with social and creative dimensions: running clubs, book clubs, film screenings, or listening sessions.
The phenomenon of “Bakery Raves” is gaining momentum in France. In the United States, retailers such as Erewhon collaborate with influencers to create signature products. In Paris, the wine bar Out of the Blue features a micro cinema room in its basement. Meanwhile, food-oriented running clubs—such as Cookie Run Club, Fasta Pasta Club, or Pattes Pressées Running Club—allow enthusiastic food lovers to work up an appetite before sharing a meal together.
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Still in Paris, Bao Family organized a massive communal table inside the famous Asian grocery store Tang Frères to celebrate Lunar New Year. More than just a dinner, the event becomes a festive community moment with a strong identity.
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At the same time, brands continue investing in convivial spaces, using food as a powerful sensory storytelling tool. Some integrate it permanently into their universe, like Lacoste, which has been opening cafés, or Nespresso, which launched a concept store in the Marais in collaboration with The Social Food and Mory Sacko, enriched with bespoke cultural and gastronomic curation.
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Others prefer more occasional but highly narrative projects: KitKat collaborating with F1, or Porsche launching an extremely spicy hot sauce designed to replicate the adrenaline rush felt when driving its cars.
Pop culture has also embraced the phenomenon. Certain franchises extend their imaginary worlds to the plate: the series Bridgerton with its Ladurée macarons, or the US Open with its signature cocktail, the Honey Deuce. Now iconic, the drink generates millions of dollars in revenue and attracts spectators as much for the cocktail as for the match.
In a world saturated with images and digital content, the table offers what many brands are now searching for: the ability to create real, collective, and memorable experiences capable of bringing together very broad audiences.
