Once valued at $300 million, content-meets-commerce pioneer Food52 appears to be headed for a bankruptcy fire sale for a relative pittance: $6.5 million. The likely buyer is America’s Test Kitchen, the media group that produces the TV show of the same name, as well as the publications Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country.
Food52, which also owns Portland-based home brand Schoolhouse and heritage tabletop company Dansk, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, listing between $10 million and $50 million in debt. America’s Test Kitchen will provide financing to keep the company operating, and has been named the stalking-horse bidder in the sale process. An auction for Food52’s assets is scheduled for February 2; absent a higher bid than the $6.5 million floor, America’s Test Kitchen will acquire the business and its subsidiaries.
In a lengthy declaration accompanying the filing, Food52 CEO Erika Ayers Badan outlined the chain of events leading up to Chapter 11, citing the post-Covid crash as a major contributor while acknowledging that the company’s foundations were already shaky.
“[Food52] found itself managing three distinct brands with few synergies, four business models with unique challenges, and two offices 3,000 miles apart. Like other companies in the home and retail space, Food52 was not immune to the post-COVID downturn,” wrote Badan. “The pivot from growth-at-all-costs to a model of responsible, profitable growth proved elusive to achieve.”
This summer, Badan began looking to sell Food52, and tapped the brand’s private equity owners The Chernin Group for money to bridge the process. According to the filing, by early December six possible buyers had emerged. However, Food52’s relationship with the bank that provided its credit line, Avid, had deteriorated. On Monday, December 15, Avid swept the company’s accounts, leaving Food52 penniless to fund operations. Two days later, the company abruptly laid off 75 percent of its staff.
“Overnight, the Company found itself scrambling for survival,” wrote Badan. “The Debtor and its advisors immediately re-engaged with five of the parties that had submitted IOIs [indications of interest] and inquired whether such parties would provide emergency funding to support the company’s operations through the closing of a sale. Of those five parties, only America’s Test Kitchen, LP submitted an actionable proposal.”
The $6.5 million price is a fire sale offer by any measure. According to the filing, Food52 brought in just over $26 million in revenue in 2024, Schoolhouse brought in $44.7 million, and Dansk netted $3.4 million—meaning that America’s Test Kitchen would acquire the assets at a fraction of annual revenue. The sale would also represent a serious loss for The Chernin Group, which purchased a majority stake in Food52 for $80 million in 2019, then put another $83 million into the company just two years later.
“We are delighted at the opportunity to acquire the Food52 brand assets and to grow this iconic brand that audiences love,” said Daniel Suratt, the CEO of America’s Test Kitchen in a statement. “We believe Food52 remains a singular media property with a strong legacy and we are excited to build on that to continue to serve Food52 fans.”
