Cooking has become entertainment and the advent of celebrity chefs and cooking reality shows like Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen have given advertisers enormous opportunities for sponsorship, product
placement and advertising in a variety of media venues. Between the internet,
cable channels, network channels … and of course the Food Network, people can learn to cook, find specialty
ingredients and easily shop for food. Today one can actually do their grocery shopping online and have the order
delivered to the house … so much for the milkman.
My life changed dramatically when the food channel was launched in 1993. By 1995 my husband was a Food Network junkie and self proclaimed chef. I must
agree we began to eat much better meals. Giada, Rachael Ray, Paula Deane and the Barefoot Contessa have seduced him into
the kitchen and made him an expert on reductions, searing, and the importance
of buying “fresh”. He wants to “stuff” everything and has managed to stuff pork chops, artichokes, peppers and pasta
while I fret about my waistline.
Apparently Giada uses two 32-ounce cans of tomato sauce everyday … geez, no wonder my husband loves her.
The Food Network's female fans swoon over Bobby Flay's Southwestern cooking. He
hosts Throwdown!, Boy Meets Grill and The Next Food Network Star.
Wolfgang Puck earns $16 million a year with the ritzy Los Angeles restaurant
Spago and about 15 other fine-dining brands,
Top earning celebrity chefs according to Forbes
1. Rachael Ray: $18 million
2. Wolfgang Puck: $16 million
3. Gordon Ramsay: $7.5 million
4. Nobu Matsuhisa: $5 million
5. Alain Ducasse: $5 million
6. Mario Batali: $3 million
7. Paula Dean: $4.5 million
8. Tom Colicchio: $2 million
9. Bobby Flay: $1.5 million
10. Anthony Bourdain: $1.5 million
Among popular celebrity chefs there is no one more famous than Emeril Lagasse.
Who can forget his signature phrases “Kick it up a notch” and “BAM”?. The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated
$150 million annually in revenue. In addition to being a famous
celebrity chef Emeril has restaurants in 5 states, best selling cookbooks and a
wide range of Emeril branded products. In February 2008, Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia acquired the rights to all Emeril products including
including Chinois, Cut and the Source, and he also sells sandwiches to airport
travelers at Wolfgang Puck Express. He's got bistros in suburbia, soups in the
grocery aisle and cutlery on the Home Shopping Network.
Rachael Ray may not have gone to culinary school but she certainly knows how to
build a brand. She won audiences with catch phrases like "EVOO" (for
extra-virgin olive oil) on her first Food Network show, 30 Minute Meals, in
2001. The rest is history and she currently boasts about 2.6 million viewers on
her network gig... Yum-O.
cookware, cookbooks, television shows and food products in a $50 million
agreement. Yikes …. Who knew there could be so much dough in cooking.
Paula Deen, the queen of Southern cuisine, serves up butter-soaked casseroles
and motherly charm on two Food Network shows. Her two red frying pans appeared
in my kitchen one day and I knew ... that night dinner would not be low
calorie.
Forward to a friend!
