How F&B Brands Play in Culture

Loewe’s heritage tomato bag; Louis Vuitton monogram cakes; JACQUEMUS-branded butter and croissants; Nike eggs designed by @suea; a Loro Piana bakery at fashion week… The world of luxury and gastronomy have long been intertwined, but there has recently been a surge in food-inspired products and cross-category collaborations. Sitting between price sensitivity and digitisation, the Food & Beverage sector is becoming a more accessible way for consumers to flaunt cultural credibility. This is particularly relevant for Gen Z, who look to food as an expression of luxury. According to a 2022 survey by Sodexo, titled ‘What I Eat is Who I Am’, Gen Z spend 40% of their disposable income dining out (ahead of fashion at 35%). Concurrently, #FookTok now boasts 174.6 billion views on TikTok — and counting — proving how social media is driving hype for the category. 

As food becomes a status symbol, several luxury brands are dipping their toe in the market via culinary collaborations: Louis Vuitton partnered with pastry chef Maxime Frédéric on a selection of baked confections featuring Louis Vuitton’s signature motifs. Meanwhile, chefs who place aesthetics at the heart of their language are trending. Instagram creators such as Japan’s @dimda_ (101K followers) recreate famous brand codes with food, while artist Laila Gohar (who The New Yorker dubbed the ‘Bjork of Food’) has turned food into a form of art.

Taking note of the world’s obsession with beautifully-presented food and hype culinary collaborations, Food & Beverage brands are using this momentum to their advantage, finding innovative ways to show up during key cultural events, driving further visibility and relevance to their brand. 

During the recent Cannes Film Festival, the Food & Beverage category took up 12.9% of the overall SoV (Share of Voice), generating $17.3M EMV (Earned Media Value), according to Lefty data. One brand in particular is making significant moves in the film industry: Campari Group. On top of being the official sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival — and having a Campari lounge inside the Palais des Festivals as well as a beach takeover — it was also the official sponsor of the Berlin International Film Festival, the Vienna International Film Festival and the Venezia 80, the cinema arm of La Biennale di Venezia. In fact, Campari Group’s brand identity is so interlaced with cinema that its campaigns borrow film-making elements, with a narrative that compares the drink to cinema: ‘There is no Negroni without Campari, just as there is no cinema without great stories’. This consistent play in film is what earned Campari Group the #1 F&B brand spot at Cannes, generating $9.78M EMV, according to Lefty data. Contributing to this noise were renowned actors such as Adrien Brody and big media drivers such as Brazilian actress Marina Ruy Barbosa alongside established influencers like Caroline Daur. 

Another Cannes highlight was Karla Otto client Nestlé Nespresso SA, also a partner of the Festival, who continued to make waves with its ephemeral beach. This year, it took on the colours of its summer collection, in Pantone Mandarin orange. Branded beach takeovers have long been standout activations at Cannes — the epitome of the French Riviera coastline. This year, they took up 13% of the overall EMV generated at the Festival, according to Lefty data. Nespresso’s was host to several parties in collaboration with Brut., Vanity Fair and Instagram, inviting powerhouse influencers like Bruna Biancardi and Léna Mahfouf alongside of-the-moment actors Hunter Schafer and Barry Keoghan. 

Nestlé Nespresso SA’s stellar Cannes moment comes after the brand showed up at Milan Design Week, doubling down on its cross-category activations. At Salone, a pop-up called ‘Paper Worlds’ introduced new sustainable capsules to a nation whose culture is so deeply rooted in coffee drinking and it worked: 1-2 hour queues could be seen every day after the press previews.

Veuve Clicquot is another F&B brand who showed up at Salone. The champagne brand painted the town yellow in a multi-touchpoint activation anchored by a photography exhibition, ‘Emotions of the Sun’, in collaboration with Magnum. Veuve Clicquot created an experiential space, including a garden where visitors could enjoy champagne on branded loungers, or indulge in yellow-themed cuisine. Guests departed via a gift store, featuring a range of brand collaborations and product personalisation stations, creating a clever way to capture data and leverage experience. The brand also took over the city’s trams and popped up at the popular ALCOVA villas. This expansive city takeover made them the 6th most visible brand during design week, and the #1 F&B brand, generating $942K EMV, according to Lefty data.

Meanwhile, some of the best collaborations in Milan took on an air of the unexpected. La Marzocco saw its coffee machine undergo a contemporary re-craft in true RIMOWA style. The partnership came equipped with a physical ‘CAFFÈ RIMOWA’ pop-up, strategically positioned next to Capsule Plaza, the much buzzed-about design collective, bringing both brands footfall and street credibility in one. CAFFÈ RIMOWA drummed up $197K EMV and over 11M impressions, according to Lefty data, proving how rewarding surprising audiences with never-seen-before activations is.

As food & beverage brands amp up their moves across categories to strengthen their cultural gravitas, reach out to Insights by Karla Otto to know which brands to partner with and other strategic opportunities in the space.