Made In Cookware Turns Up The Retail Heat By Opening In Crate And Barrel

Made In Cookware Crate & Barrel assortment1

Chef-inspired Made In is launching an exclusive high-performance, high-design cookware collection with Crate and Barrel. Founded as a direct-to-consumer brand in 2017, but with roots in co-founder Jake Kalick’s century-old family restaurant supply business, the Crate and Barrel partnership is a critical milestone in the company’s expansion into brick-and-mortar retail.

It’s also particularly notable because the Otto Group-owned Crate and Barrel brand, under CEO Janet Hayes, has been implementing a strategy to improve store and online visual presentations while “thoughtfully” reducing the curation of product. That Made In cookware fits into Crate and Barrel’s elevated curation standards says much about the brand.

The exclusive collection includes a ten-piece stovetop set, ceramic-clad non-stick frying pans and a carbon-steel griddle suited to backyard barbecuing. The range features Made In’s proven cookware bodies, which Kalick describes as “sacred,” but is enhanced with brass antique-inspired hardware handles that enhances the design aesthetics to Crate and Barrel’s standards. The collection is featured online and carried in about a third of Crate and Barrel’s 100 stores.

Recipe For Success

Unlike so many DTC brands that tried to grow too fast, only to fizzle out – thinking of Casper and Allbirds – Made In has chosen to build momentum slowly, starting with the most demanding cooks on the planet – professional chefs – and building credibility there to reach the next level down in the roughly $4.3 billion cookware market – the serious cooking enthusiast.

The best estimate is that the cookware market is divided 80%/20% or 70%/30% between the everyday home cook who values affordability, convenience, and ease of use, and the top-tier professionals and serious enthusiasts who value high-performance, cutting edge tools and materials. But there is an inherent limitation to growth among the top tier: they also buy for durability, so their need to replace or add to an already well-stocked cookware collection is limited.

Therefore, growth for a premium, high-performance brand like Made In requires converting everyday cooks into serious cooking enthusiast. Enter Made In’s influencer marketing strategy.

“Influencers drive a ton of credibility in today’s market, especially in a passion and skill category like cookware,” Kalick said. “People want to learn and influencers are the best teachers.”

Adopted By Professional Chefs

Made in started at the top of the pyramid with professional chefs, where Kalick’s family business gave him a leg up and proof-of-concept that its cookware can perform in professional kitchens and stand up under the pressure.

Over the past seven years, Made In cookware has been adopted in more than 2,000 restaurant kitchens worldwide, including those run by James Beard Award-winning chefs with Michelin stars. Some, like Grant Achatz, owner of the three-starred Alinea, and Tom Colicchio, cookbook author and eight-time James Beard winner, have become advisors and early investors. Others, like Matt Horn, Horn Barbecue, and famed bread-baker Nancy Silverton, have collaborated to develop products.

Create Compelling Cooking Content

The next step was to take the Made In message to home cooks eager to learn how to improve their cooking by watching experts cook and teach online.

“Rather than influencers, we call them ‘content creators’ because we work with folks who are creating compelling content in the cooking world with followers who follow along and where they can learn about Made In and may become convinced to consider our product,” Kalick shared.

One of my personal favorites is YouTuber Jamie Tracey, the “Anti-Chef,” now with nearly half a million followers. Originally working in the film industry, he was looking for a side gig and his wife suggested it would be fun if he filmed himself in the kitchen where he was all thumbs and knew next to nothing about cooking but was brave enough to tackle the toughest cooking challenges following recipes from Julia Child, Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsey and many others.

“People like the Anti-Chef make really compelling content and it’s not somebody bashing you over the head with a sales pitch. It’s just a natural integration into their cooking,” he continued.

Expand Into Brick-And-Mortar

All the while, Made In was building a flourishing direct-to-consumer online business but needed entry into the real retail world, starting with small independent gourmet cookware shops. “They tend to be family-owned and trendsetters in their local communities because they are super-knowledgeable and have their ears to the ground in cookware,” Kalick explained

Crate and Barrel fits that model, though it is a big step up in size and scale. “The folks we met at Crate and Barrel were fans of Made In at home, so they were already believers,” he said.

Over the past year, Made In has more than doubled the number of retailers carrying its products, now featured in over 550 locations, including Ace Hardware, which carries its outdoor grilling product.

ForbesMade In Cookware’s Growth Flywheel Extends From Professional Chefs To Home CooksBy Pamela N. Danziger

International Expansion

Next on Made In’s recipe card is international expansion. It’s set up fulfillment operations in Canada and the U.K. with Australia coming online shortly so the company can provide the same two-day shipping as here in the U.S.

“We already have chef customers in those markets who are leading the marketing efforts and because of the global reach of our influencers, we are already recognized,” Kalick added.

Made In’s acceptance over the border to the north and across the pond has wildly exceeded expectations.

“When we launched in the U.K. we blew the numbers out of the water. That’s when we realized we’d long been priming the funnel with our U.S. influencer strategy, especially in the Western world.”

Beyond The Cooking World

To cap off a banner year, Made In also forged a partnership with Wrangler jeans to broaden its horizons. Wrangler lent its cowboy heritage, which fit perfectly with Made In’s Austin, TX roots, to develop a denim chef jacket and apron, cotton indigo chef shirt and the necessary logo t-shirt. Made In brought the chef knives, crafted in France with denim knife handles, and backed by chefs Daily and Greg Ryan, founders of Bells Restaurant in Los Alamos, CA.

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

As any expert chef knows, it takes years to master the skill to turn out restaurant-quality dishes. Likewise, it takes years to build a company and a brand that will go the distance. Made In has invested that time and the results are beginning to show.

“We waited eight years to get into a partnership with a leader like Crate and Barrel. A lot of our competitors have done it a lot quicker, but we wanted to build our brand to outlast them. We knew the longer we waited, the more success we were likely to have out of the gate wth these partners, because we’ve already built the knowledge base. The results are showing right now,” Kalick concluded.