Food for Thought: Why Culinary Creator Marketing Moves the Needle

In the past year, food influencer marketing has grown by 30% in client demand. And we don’t have to guess why. As audiences’ demand for relatable and authentic marketing rises, culinary creators are at the center of how this trend resonates throughout the creator economy. Intrinsic to the content style of culinary creators is the cultural, nostalgic, and emotional backbone that defines successful social-first marketing.

Brands who prioritize a humanized social persona are 8x more likely to exceed revenue goals by 25% or more. And with humanizing storytelling and authentic, culturally relevant engagement across channels, influencer partnerships are a foundational piece of this puzzle.

Overall, culinary is a far more versatile and powerful vertical within influencer marketing than it might appear at first glance. And it’s still growing: not yet fully saturated by brand integrations, there is ample opportunity for a savvy marketer to make a foodie influencer partnership the throughline between their brand’s next campaign and their brand’s sustainable growth. With insights from Viral Nation Talent’s culinary team and our award-winning influencer marketing experts, we’re spotlighting a trend in the creator economy that’s been brewing for a while now: the rise of culinary creators.

Culinary is Evergreen

When compared to other content styles that thrive on the fast pace and ephemeral trends of social media, one of the greatest boons of food influencers’ content is its lasting quality. Evergreen in nature, culinary content builds in visibility and engagement, gaining traction year over year.

Over the past year, Viral Nation’s business intelligence experts have noted a significant uptick in investment across key verticals: food takes the lead with an increase in market spend of 78%. Curious where the other creator verticals land? You can read more about the core trends shaping influencer marketing in our latest report, The State of Influencer Marketing 2025: Trends, Predictions, Strategy.

The data is clear — consumers on social prefer to view content that fits into their everyday lives. Not only is food always going to be relevant to our day-to-day, but it’s also relevant to all walks of life in a way that other creator verticals are not, making it wide-reaching in terms of visibility and audience appeal. According to 51% of social media users worldwide, cooking recipes are the most popular form of influencer-created content. 

On a granular level, our social content team points to the retention and engagement of a recipe post compared to other content styles. It’s a data point that Viral Nation continues to optimize for and capitalize on for clients: retention shows audience behavior, while engagement indicates a conversion from passive scrolling to active interest.

Now consider how consumers will watch culinary content all the way through and multiple times over in order to recreate the recipe themselves or understand the cooking process. Questions about how to properly achieve results in their own attempt at the meal turn into comments, creating an opportunity for direct engagement. Recipes to try later or make again will be saved, and favorite meals become posts that consumers return time and time again. All of this engagement trains the platform’s algorithm to prioritize the post, increasing its visibility for higher reach.

Ultimately, by organically creating a shared real-life experience with their audience, creators who post recipe content or meal inspiration are forging memorable emotional bonds and lasting community with their followers.

Seasonal Recipes 

Food influencer content not only resonates for its day-to-day relevance, but as a spotlight around Holidays and events. Our experts in talent relations point out the power of an individual recipe post to speak directly to timely and culturally relevant moments, addressing their audience’s desires, through seasonality.

The Salad Lab, for example, has been posting recipes with in-season ingredients since fall began:

“This is great for the holidays because everything in this salad is in season right now,” Kylie Frink, Viral Nation’s Director of Talent, Culinary explained. “[The Salad Lab] wasn’t saying ‘This is what you should make for your family for Thanksgiving. She framed it as ‘This is what’s in season.’ And that’s going to be in season every single fall. And that recipe will get more views every single fall because of that SEO. That’s the heart of evergreen content. It’s not necessarily saying ‘you should make this’ for whichever holiday is next. It’s thinking about what’s in season as a recipe developer, and how that comes across every single year, making content that is still valuable a year later.”

The power of culinary creators is that, as brand partners, they’re not just delivering recipe content for a one-and-done deal: audiences will return to that content year after year, building trust seamlessly with the associated brand, for greater long-term growth. Looking at creator partnerships to increase authenticity and engagement around holiday campaigns takes on a different meaning when considering how tentpole moments can extend beyond the seasonal partnership, extending into long-lasting impact and continuously growing visibility.

Food as Storytelling

But food influencers are more than recipe developers — they’re emotional marketing powerhouses. Part of Culinary’s wide-reaching and long-lasting appeal is its ability to connect to the values of niche communities. Think of the cultural significance of traditional dishes, or the nostalgia and emotional power of food as it connects to family, relationships, and memory. 

Frink speaks to the power of representation to resonate with niche cultural communities through influencer partnerships:

“I think food can reach so many different homes and people around the world. But I do think the people who should be leading the conversations about authentic cuisine should be the people who are authentic to the region. A really good example of this is Nadia Aidi. She’s the talent behind Food My Muse; she is Syrian and Mexican and all of her recipes have a twist inspired by that. It makes sense to uplift the voices that can share those authentic recipes from those communities.”

With this storytelling power, food influencers are natural fit partners for more than just food brands. Their content carries aesthetic and lifestyle values of its own that hinge on their personality, while the universality and emotional connection of food itself makes culinary creators the ultimate humanizing partner. We unpacked the rising power of creator niches (including culinary) in The State of Influencer Marketing 2025: Trends, Predictions, Strategy — download the report for an in-depth look at the emerging trends in creator-led marketing and how brand storytelling will evolve in 2025.  

Here are just a few of the emotional touchstones that culinary creators naturally tap into to foster connection with their audience:

1. Sustainability: environmentally conscious content reflects the values of Gen Z — 62% of this generation prefers to buy from sustainable brands, and are willing to pay more for environmentally conscious products. Vegan culinary creators like Priyanka Naik and food advocates like Oliver English weave sustainable values into their content organically (no pun intended) while conversations around seasonality and food waste resonate no matter the culinary niche.
2. Health and Fitness: Food creators that center mental and physical well-being, like nutritionist Steph Grasso, speak to personal values that go beyond recipe development. Health food content appeals to a broader “clean” lifestyle aesthetic that encompasses self-care ideals, making for a perfect partnership with brands whose audience shares these values and engages with this aesthetic on social media.
3. Family Values: meal prep hacks, kid-friendly recipes, and low-effort weeknight dinner ideas – these are just a few of the ways creators like Andy Hay (a father himself) connect with the needs of family-oriented audiences, putting their lifestyle values front and center.
4. Cultural Heritage: To engage niche cultural communities in a humanized way, consider partnerships with foodie influencers whose content taps into their lived experience as part of that community. For example, Nadia Aidi draws inspiration for her recipes from her Hispanic heritage, Priyanka Naik created a custom cinnamon roll for a partnership celebrating Diwali, and Andy’s East Coast Kitchen is built on his Newfoundland roots.

The Versatile Chef

The diverse lifestyles and vibrant personalities that captivate consumers of culinary content translate into incredible versatility for brand partnerships.

Take Joshua Williford, better known as the Rapping Chef, for example. A professional chef, his content is definitively culinary. But the style and format of his recipe development posts, playfully rapping with tongue-in-cheek lyrics over each recipe, also clearly fits into the entertainment vertical — touching on music and pop culture along the way. Straddling two verticals creates unique opportunities: TikTok Business sponsored Williford to moderate panels and present awards at the 2024 Cannes International Festival of Creativity. For brands, the opportunity is one of creative partnership with the potential to reach audiences interested in music and entertainment as well as food.

Lindsey Katon, better known as @lindseybakedthis on TikTok, is a master of surprising cross-industry collaborations. A cupcake decoration aficionado, her brand partnership history includes Penguin Kids for their Very Hungry Caterpillar day, music producer and DJ Marshmello, and ACE (Alliance for Citizen Engagement) to encourage Americans to vote. Her signature cupcake decorating content can carry diverse brand messages, increasing reach, while the captivating aesthetic of the culinary process ensures high retention and engagement.

For versatile brand-culinary partnerships to succeed, they must feel authentic and aligned with both the brand’s identity and the foodie creator’s voice. When executed well, they surprise and delight, creating unique opportunities for brands to break through the noise, fostering positive brand sentiment and ROI with a wider audience.

A Partnership Potential Case Study

For a successful example of a seamless partnership between unlikely cross-industry brand and creator, consider Marc Jacobs’ work with Nara Smith:

The campaign went viral (with 16.9 million views, 17 thousand comments, and 58.8 thousand saves on TikTok to date), exemplifying the creative potential of content within the culinary field. Nara Smith — known equally for luxury lifestyle and from-scratch food content — aligned with the social persona and aesthetic value of Marc Jacobs. Leaning into the culinary aspect of Smith’s content made for a memorable campaign that garnered unparalleled attention and engagement.

“What makes a culinary creator unique is when they have a specific point of view that goes beyond the food. That’s what’s becoming so likable on social and reaching audiences that go beyond the obvious.” Kylie Frink comments. “What I think Marc Jacobs did so well in that campaign is they realized that they were selling a lifestyle more than just an individual product. When brands explore that role more, they have a lot more impactful opportunities for their audience. Marc Jacobs only found somebody who is extremely trending, but they were able to convey a lifestyle with creative food content.”

When it comes to unlikely partnerships with food influencers and non-culinary brands, brand fit is key. When a creator’s values, content style, and audience align seamlessly with a brand’s identity, it amplifies impact. If the brand fit is off, the campaign can feel disingenuous, losing the audience’s trust. Our influencer marketing team simplifies the process by curating the perfect creators for brands across global markets. By leveraging unparalleled AI-powered creator intelligence, Viral Nation identifies, sources, and vets creators, ensuring every campaign is matched with the best creators for the biggest business impact.

The Rise of Food Influencers

The takeaway? Culinary creators don’t just make exceptional partners for food brands. The opportunities here are endless, and while the space has been seeing incredible growth over the past year, there’s still an ocean of opportunity for brands to grow their reach while deepening community connection and engagement through creators in the culinary space.

The growth of Food as a creator niche is not a fleeting trend, but a signal to greater shifts in buyer behavior. The emotional connections at the heart of food and the driving personality of culinary creators — rooted in cultural and lifestyle values that resonate with their audience — showcase the universal potential for brands across all industries to drive impact through partnerships with chefs, foodies, and the relatable at-home cook.