Food52

Food52 is a diversified digital media and e-commerce business operating at the intersection of food, home and lifestyle. It began as a community-centric recipe website and built a "content-to-commerce" model that combined editorial content, user-submitted recipes and curated product sales in a single experience. Its digital hub reached roughly 37 million consumers monthly across web and social channels, and the company produced over 2,500 minutes of original video in 2025.

By 2025 the business spanned three brand verticals: the core Food52 platform (marketplace and an in-house creative studio selling sponsored content and marketing campaigns to brand partners), Schoolhouse, a vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer of premium home furnishings and lighting based in Portland, Oregon, and Dansk Designs, a heritage tabletop and cookware brand established in 1954 and held largely as an intellectual property asset. Corporate headquarters and production were centered on a 41,000 sq. ft. studio at Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, leased in 2021, containing test kitchens, photo and video studios and event space; Schoolhouse operated from a 125,000 sq. ft. Portland factory with a unionized workforce (IBEW Local 48).

Food52, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection on December 29, 2025 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, reporting $1 million to $10 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities. A court-supervised auction in early 2026 broke the company into three pieces sold to separate buyers.

Founding story

Food52 was founded in 2009 by Amanda Hesser, a former New York Times food editor, and Merrill Stubbs, a food writer, as a community recipe website.

Business model

Food52 combined advertising and branded-content revenue with direct e-commerce. The marketplace relied predominantly on an asset-light dropshipping model with more than 100 artisanal makers and brands to limit inventory risk, supplemented by higher-margin private-label products sold under the "Five Two" label, with community input used for crowdsourced product development. The Schoolhouse vertical operated an asset-heavy, manufacturing-centric model, creating a bifurcated logistics network alongside the dropship business.

Three revenue streams in 2024: the Food52 marketplace (~$21.5 million), the in-house creative studio producing sponsored content and marketing campaigns for brand partners (~$5.1 million), Schoolhouse product sales (~$44.7 million) and Dansk (~$3.4 million), totaling approximately $74.7 million in 2024, down from about $160 million in 2021.

Traction

Approximately 37 million monthly consumers across web and social channels; over 2,500 minutes of original video produced in 2025; partnerships with more than 100 artisanal makers and brands; approximately $74.7 million of revenue in 2024 versus about $160 million in 2021.

Latest developments

A Delaware bankruptcy auction concluded in February 2026, splitting the company: the core Food52 media business went to F52 LLC, an acquisition vehicle for America's Test Kitchen, for roughly $10.3 million (about $9.9 million after transaction fees), including cancellation of $3.42 million of debtor-in-possession financing and leaving an estimated $6.5-7 million in cash to the seller; Schoolhouse was sold to Troy-CSL Lighting, a division of Hudson Valley Lighting Group, for $2.2 million; and Dansk was sold to Form Portfolios for $250,000. Static Media was named backup bidder for Food52. America's Test Kitchen, owned by brand licensing firm Marquee Brands, is expected to fold Food52 into its content, publishing and product review portfolio.