One of the ways direct-to-consumer cookware brand Made In has grown was through its connection with chefs.

“Chefs are the new athlete,” said co-founder and CEO Chip Malt. That idea has been core to Made In’s growth. Malt was the most recent guest on the Modern Retail Podcast -- his interview was recorded live at the Modern Retail Summit, held in Palm Springs last week.

Indeed, Made In -- which first launched in 2017 -- has inked multiple deals with celebrity chefs, including “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio and Mozza co-owner Nancy Silverton. Made In sells to restaurants, which make up only 5% of its total sales. But its partnerships with these chefs have helped Made In become a more prominent cookware player. Malt said sales grew 5x in 2020.

The idea behind Made In, he said, was to make a cookware brand that had real brand loyalty. “Food is a very emotional category,” he said, but most people think of recipes or the food itself, rather than the tools they use to make the dishes. “We couldn’t think of anything where people care less about the brand affinity in a space of a product they use so much.”

To try and create that brand affinity, Made In has tapped a deep network of culinary professionals. And, as a happy side effect, the company’s business-to-business sales have grown. For now, they remain a drop in the bucket -- but Malt said that the chef community “makes up way larger than 5% of our mindshare.”

By focusing on those tastemakers, he said, “it’s an organic growth through that community.”