Publishers Are Flocking to Food Licensing Deals

The hottest food you may ever eat will soon be available in the frozen food section. This morning, First We Feast announced a new partnership with Walmart to distribute its newest product, Hot Ones Boneless Chicken Bites, a frozen food kit that lets fans of the popular YouTube series Hot Ones recreate its infamous challenge at home. “There are a lot of exciting things happening in the disruption of the food space, especially in the economy of influence,” said Chris Schonberger, general manager of First We Feast. “Where audiences consume food content has really shifted, so publishers who create programming about food that resonates with people have an opportunity to bring them deeper into that universe.” The expansion of Hot Ones into the frozen food aisle corresponds to a larger trend in the industry, as publishers with cachet in the culinary space increasingly embrace licensing as a substantial source of revenue. Tasty’s Licensing Partners Sold More Than $250 Million of Branded Merchandise in 2020 Across all sectors, the licensed-product universe is a $292.8 billion industry, and food and beverage ranks in the top five in terms of its extension ability, said Amanda Cioletti, content director at License Global Magazine. Behind the bites The meal kits, which will be available in over 3,000 Walmarts by the end of October, will include three hot sauces associated with the show: the mild Classic, medium Los Calientes and incredibly spicy Last Dab | Apollo. The release represents the 22nd product spin-off from the Daytime Emmy-nominated series, which has aired more than 250 episodes across its 16 seasons, but will be its first attempt to pair frozen chicken and hot sauce together. Hot Ones is a part of the First We Feast YouTube channel, whose collection of programming has accrued more than 10 million subscribers and more than 1.9 billion views, according to the publisher. The spicy interview show has helped First We Feast create an eight-figure commerce business from selling various hot sauce products, as well as other ventures, such as a footwear and apparel collection with Reebok, according to the publisher. Executives at the brand have been working on the Boneless Chicken Bites for more than a year, encouraged by a strong uptick in consumption of frozen foods during the pandemic. Over the last 52 months ending in May, sales of frozen foods rose 9.2%, 4% higher than the 5.8% increase across food and beverage broadly, Schonberger said. Publishers embrace licensing Publishers have flocked to food licensing for a number of reasons, chief among them a push to diversify their sources of revenue. But changing consumer behaviors have also helped make the strategy viable. The pandemic forced consumers to be responsible for more of their meal preparation, a factor that encouraged the rise of branded products as home-cooks sought to replicate restaurant experiences or find convenient shortcuts, Cioletti said. Publishers like BuzzFeed, Complex Networks and Barstool also cater to an audience that has aged into a larger share of domestic responsibility over the last decade, said Molly McFarland, the chief revenue officer and co-founder of AdAdapted. “The younger grocery shoppers who grew up interacting with each of these media platforms are now responsible for doing their own shopping and providing food for themselves,” McFarland said. “In terms of monetizing an audience, the move into licensed food is a natural progression for each of these outlets.” Publishers have also been aided by new technologies that streamline the online grocery shopping experience. By reducing the number of steps required for browsers to turn into buyers, publishers have been able to double dip their audience, turning their readership into advertising revenue and a stream of commerce. “We see the growth of Hot Ones as a blueprint we can apply to all of our IP,” Schonberger said. “As we move deeper and deeper into retail and launch products that allow people to live out our shows, this is just the tip of the spear.” Barstool Sports Is Expanding Into Food Delivery With Barstool Bites

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Publishers Flock to Food Licensing Deals as G-Commerce Heats Up

Complex Network's First We Feast is the latest title to ink a CPG deal with Walmart

Mark Stenberg

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