Cracking the Code: Why Chefs Are One of the Hardest Audiences for Advertisers to Win Over
In the high-pressure, high-passion world of professional kitchens, chefs are not just menu creators they’re gatekeepers of quality, trendsetters in taste, and powerful influencers on what gets stocked in the pantry or featured on the plate. Yet for advertisers and foodservice brands, chefs are one of the hardest audiences to crack.
So, what makes this audience so complex to connect with?
The Macros at Play: A Shifting Foodservice Landscape
Across Australia’s foodservice sector, macro trends are reshaping how chefs and their teams make decisions:
Economic pressure is eroding brand loyalty. Chefs who once swore by particular gravies, creams, or condiments are now trialling alternatives especially if they deliver better margins or versatility in use.
The rise of dining precincts and multi-venue groups means chefs often operate within bigger ecosystems, and they need products that help them stay nimble, cost-effective, and on-brand.
Tech-driven operations (like digital procurement platforms and automated kitchens) are changing how chefs discover and order products - less reliant on reps, more reliant on peers and efficient systems.
The Chef’s Mindset: Time-Poor, Value-Savvy, Creativity-Led
Unlike the romanticised image of the chef as a freewheeling artist, the reality is this: today’s chef is under immense pressure to deliver consistently, manage costs, innovate constantly—and do it all fast.
They are time poor and short on attention. If your message isn’t relevant, immediate and value-driven, it’s lost.
They are deeply creative, but also deeply pragmatic. A product has to either spark culinary imagination or make their lives measurably easier.
They are network-driven, turning to trusted peers, social media chefs, and word-of-mouth far more than traditional sales channels to discover and vet new products.
Despite financial pressures, they still fight for the products they believe in. A chef will push hard to get a particular butter, stock base, or dessert mix on the menu if it delivers standout flavour, consistency, or storytelling value.
What This Means for Advertisers
To truly engage chefs, foodservice marketers need to rethink their approach:
Lead with utility or inspiration: Show how your product saves time or sparks menu innovation.
Think like a chef, not a brand: Drop the corporate speak. Be practical, punchy, and culinary-first in your messaging.
Equip chefs to influence internally: Help them champion your product to F&B buyers or cost controllers—make the ROI case for them.
Show up where they do: Not just trade media, but chef forums and even on Instagram with a tightly defined audience targeting strategy in play this is where recipe hacks and product reviews can be shared authentically.
Final Thought
If chefs are hard to win, they’re even harder to lose - once they trust your product, they’ll champion it fiercely. But to get there, you need to show you understand not just what they cook with, but how they think, work, and influence the wider kitchen operation.
How LIONIZE Advisory Can Help
With over 10 years of experience in foodservice, LIONIZE Advisory knows what it takes to connect with chefs and decision-makers across kitchens, cafés, and bars.
We help brands go beyond product features—crafting strategies that resonate with how chefs really think, work, and choose. From positioning and messaging to channel strategy and campaign execution, we bring the insights and creativity needed to turn your product into something chefs trust, use, and recommend.
Want to make your brand matter to chefs?
Let’s talk.
Drop us a line at elevate@lionize.com.au