Complex Acquires the Food Festival ‘Family Style,’ Part of Its Broader Rebuild

According to chief executive Aaron Levant, the fashion and lifestyle publisher Complex has acquired the food festival Family Style for an undisclosed sum, part of a larger bid for the media company to rebuild its food vertical.

The acquisition comes just three months after the live-shopping platform NTWRK acquired Complex from BuzzFeed Inc. for $108 million. As part of the deal, BuzzFeed Inc. kept the food franchises First We Feast and Hot Ones, which were popular, lucrative food brands that Complex had initially created.

Complex plans to use Food Style as the foundation for its new food offerings, which will span events, video, editorial and commerce.

“Food is universal, and it has always been a core part of the Complex brand,” Levant said. “With Family Style, we are bringing back an exciting part of our value proposition.”

The move is the latest acquisition from Complex, which also purchased the media company Idea Generation in March. Complex had largely languished under BuzzFeed Inc., but its new ownership group has invested in the organization as it plans a series of editorial and commercial shifts.

Among other initiatives, Complex aims to further prioritize commerce, lean more heavily into video and expand its events slate, which is anchored by its tentpole offering ComplexCon.

Family Style lays the food foundation

Family Style was founded in 2019 by Complex alumnus Miles Canares, along with Ben Shennasafer and Bobby Kim, the founders of the cult streetwear brand The Hundreds.

Canares will join Complex through the acquisition, along with three other staff, while Shennasafer and Kim will remain associated through minority-ownership stakes.

Family Style’s primary offering is an annual event held in October in Los Angeles, which brings chefs from trending restaurants across the country to one location. There, attendees can eat, buy merchandise and enjoy programming. 

Last year, 11,000 people paid to attend the event—tickets ranged from $50 to $200—and it garnered sponsors such as Starry and Stella Artois. 

In addition to its flagship event, Family Style also powers the culinary offerings for other festivals, including Rolling Loud, and hosts smaller-format offerings, like bespoke dinner series.

Under Complex, Family Style will debut a second iteration of its annual flagship in an undetermined city, according to Levant. It will also provide the food for ComplexCon, which itself is moving from Long Beach to Las Vegas. In total, Family Style will power around six events next year, as well as potential sponsor activations at venues like Art Basel and Coachella.

Rebuilding the food vertical

In addition to its events footprint, Family Style will serve as the foundation for Complex to rebuild its food vertical following the loss of Hot Ones and First We Feast.

One area of emphasis will be video, which will be a key focus for Complex more broadly. Family Style has history in the medium, having created and sold a show, Big Appetite, to Tastemade. By the end of the year, Complex hopes to launch 6-to-10 new video series, several of which will be Family Style branded.

Family Style will also enable Complex to move further into commerce, as the food franchise has connections with restaurateurs across the country. At its events, chefs work with streetwear designers to create custom merchandise, a formula that Complex plans to reproduce on a broader scale. 

Complex also has a track record of monetizing its food brands through commerce, such as the success of its Hot Ones hot sauces, and hopes to replicate that success with Family Style.

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The expansion into events and commerce is part of Complex’s continuing strategy to diversify its business. Right now, roughly 50% of its business comes from commerce, but the company aims to increase that to 66% by the end of next year, according to Levant.

The company aims to migrate to a proprietary content-management system by the second half of the year, which will bring more shoppable capabilities to its website. 

“We are investing in the channels that are insulated from these short-term and mid-term changes,” Levant said. “If you want to watch our videos, attend our events or buy our products, you have to come through us.”