Culinary Media Group, a subsidiary of the brand management company Marquee Brands, said on 19 February 2026 that it had acquired assets of Food52, the recipe site and online kitchenware shop. The deal ended Food52's Chapter 11 case and puts it under the same owner as America's Test Kitchen, which Marquee also controls.
The press release did not give a price. Marquee's affiliate F52 won the court-supervised auction earlier in February with a bid valued at $9.9 million, up from its original $6.5 million stalking-horse offer, according to records filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and reported by Bloomberg Law. Business of Home reported that the buyer also assumed some liabilities.
Daniel Suratt, chief executive of America's Test Kitchen, became chief executive of Food52 with immediate effect while keeping his existing role.
What Food52 built
Food52 was founded in 2009 by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs as an online community where home cooks shared recipes and stories. It later moved into selling kitchen and home products, an expansion Business of Home described as an attempt to build a digital-first rival to Williams-Sonoma, and came to own two other brands: Schoolhouse, a home brand based in Portland, Oregon, and Dansk, a heritage tableware label.
In 2024 Food52 itself had revenue of just over $26 million, while Schoolhouse brought in $44.7 million and Dansk $3.4 million, Business of Home reported. Chief executive Erika Ayers Badan, formerly head of Barstool Sports, said the company had struggled to run three brands with few synergies, four business models and offices 3,000 miles apart.
“We will build on Food52's legacy by leaning into its rich library, bringing back community favorites, and focusing on premium content curated across social, streaming, books and more.”
From a $300 million valuation to bankruptcy
The Chernin Group bought a majority stake in Food52 in 2019 for $83 million and put in another $80 million two years later, when the company was valued at $300 million, Business of Home reported. In total the firm reportedly invested $163 million.
The business weakened after demand from the pandemic years faded. On 15 December 2025 its lender, Avidbank, swept the company's accounts, leaving it without money to run operations. Two days later Food52 laid off 75% of its staff, and on 29 December it filed for Chapter 11, listing between $10 million and $50 million in debt. Of five parties that had shown interest, only America's Test Kitchen made a firm offer, and it became the stalking-horse bidder.
Marquee Brands also provided debtor-in-possession financing to keep Food52 running while the case was pending, the closing announcement said.
Three brands, three buyers
The auction split the company up. Static Media, which owns the food sites Tasting Table and Chowhound, made a $10.2 million all-cash offer for Food52 and was named backup bidder, but Marquee's bid was chosen as the winner, Bloomberg Law reported.
Schoolhouse went to Troy-CSL, a division of Hudson Valley Lighting Group, for $2.2 million, and Dansk was sold for $250,000 to Form Portfolios, a design licensing agency that had been in a dispute with Food52 over a licence for designs by Jens Quistgaard, Business of Home reported. The combined proceeds were close to double the original $6.5 million stalking-horse bid but a small fraction of the 2021 valuation.
What happens to Food52 now
Marquee Brands owns or controls Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Sur La Table, Laura Ashley and other consumer brands, which it grows through licensing partners. Food52 will sit in its home and culinary group next to America's Test Kitchen, which produces television shows, Cook's Illustrated magazine, cookbooks and a digital subscription from a test kitchen in Boston.
Suratt said the company would build on Food52's recipe library, bring back features that its community liked and produce new content for social media, streaming and books. He did not say what would happen to Food52's online shop or how many staff would stay.
