What Happened to ChefSteps- Everything You Need To Know!

One name instantly hits your mind when it comes to the passionate and visionary cooking platform: ChefSteps. Started in 2012 by Chris Young, it soon became a talk of the media for foodies, chefs, and home cooks.

However, since 2019, a lot of members of the ChefSteps community have become concerned and began posting questions on the website's Facebook page and forums about what happened to their favorite cooking platform. The sudden disappearance of ChefSteps caused their fans and followers to wonder about their existence.

So, what happened to ChefSteps?

ChefSteps, the online cooking platform that brought you all sorts of videos, recipes, and blogs on cooking, was sold in July of 2019 to the Breville group. The news is that they disappeared for 3 reasons - a lack of funding, a lack of marketing dollars, and a misalignment with their core mission.

Find out more to know about why and how this happened to ChefSteps.

What Was Chefsteps About

“Keep it simple.”

With this motto, ChefSteps started its journey in 2012 to share what the team at ChefSteps knew about cooking.

The talented and visionary chef Chris Young founded the Seattle-based cooking startup. The chefs at ChefSteps used their experience to create an interactive, community-oriented site that would make cooking easy and fun, even if you were new to it.

The founders had been developing recipes for years but wanted to connect with more people and share more of what they knew about food and cooking. After not hearing from the new owners and with no communication on the website or social media, the ChefSteps community/ followers worldwide became worried.

What Happened to ChefSteps?

The founder of ChefSteps had an ambitious goal: to transform how people cook. They wanted to create a place where passionate home cooks could learn from their talented instructors. They had a strong fan base, community, and customer base all over social media.

So, what actually happened to a successfully running platform? There were three primary problems- a lack of funding, marketing dollars, and misalignment with their core mission. Just three months before the acquisition, in April 2019, ChefSteps laid off a vast number of its staff because they couldn’t pay them.

With all the issues added, they had to sell their platform and business to a large parent company- Breville.

Why Did Breville Bought Cefsteps?

Breville Group, LLC, an Australia-based manufacturer of high-end kitchen appliances, announced its acquisition of ChefSteps LLC. This American online platform provides cooking and recipe content to consumers via mobile devices and the web.

While this may seem like an unexpected move on Breville’s part, it actually makes perfect sense if you understand the motivations behind Breville’s decision to acquire ChefSteps, and what Breville hopes to accomplish by doing so.

Well, Breville is definitely a company that’s focused on producing solid kitchen appliances. So, it was hard to believe they would go after ChefSteps, since ChefSteps seems like an entirely different category of a company- one that would focus more on culinary education than actually developing or selling products (except for the Joule sous vide rotator).

So why did they buy them?

The answer is pretty simple: access to their community. It’s clear from everything we’ve seen about Breville over the years that their business model revolves around building communities around their products.

About Breville

Breville is a very well-known name in kitchen appliances based in Sydney, Australia. So, it’s not surprising that so many ask about Breville.

This line includes juicers, toasters, blenders, and mixers, as well as cookware sets for every need. Many people are loyal to Breville because they have loved their juicer or blender from Breville.

On top of that, Breville makes quality products that are affordable, available, and a pleasure to use.

What’s Next For Chris Young, The CEO of ChefSteps?

For Young, what's next is all about getting back to basics- the core values that spurred him to action in 2012 when he started working on his kitchen computer.

“It's time for me to work on a different project”, he says. “I have a number of ideas; I think it'll be something related to food. Whatever it is, you can bet it will be tasty,” he further added.

And, yes, we hope there will be more than what ChefSteps followers expect. But more importantly: it will be something worth talking about again. So, stay tuned.

How is Joule Sous Vide Related to ChefSteps?

What you need to know about Joule's launch, why it didn't come with ChefSteps content, and how to get access to that content.

That said, Joule is favorite sous vide machine for many cooks and a great starting point for your immersion in sous vide. The Chefstep hardware team developed the Joule machine in-house under the supervision of a former Boeing engineer- Kevin Finke.

You can cook with it in its own standalone app or as part of ChefSteps Joule (which is free!). In short: It depends on what you’re looking for. If you want an all-in-one solution, Joule is great. If you want a more flexible experience that works across devices, we recommend using ChefSteps Joule. Here at SmallDiner.com, You will get authentic reviews & information about sous vide machines to have.

Perhaps no other cooking product has sparked more passion in home cooks than Joule sous vide machines. While some professional chefs have had access to sous vide technology for decades, it wasn’t until recently that its popularity spread to home kitchens across America.

Effects of The Acquisition On Customers:

When two companies combine to form a new brand, it’s often referred to as an acquisition. When a larger one acquires a smaller company, it usually changes ownership and operation in some way or simply gains recognition and popularity with customers.

But how will ChefSteps customers deal under new management? How do Breville’s products stack up against those at ChefSteps? Let’s take a look.

It goes without saying that Breville has quite a bit more money to spend on product development than ChefSteps, as well as access to a much wider customer base, thanks to its global status. It’s unclear how much influence these factors will play in any future developments at ChefSteps. However, if we turn our attention away from marketing and toward product design, there may be a reason for concern.

While both companies offer high-quality products, their approach to innovation is markedly different.

Breville is known for creating unique appliances with innovative technology (such as induction cooking). On the other hand, ChefSteps focused primarily on educating customers with new cooking tips and recipes rather than selling products.

While Breville’s acquisition of ChefSteps might seem like a good thing for customers who are loyal to either company, it could also mean some changes down the road.

Possible Outcome Of This Deal

Although Breville and ChefSteps are two different companies, these two seem to complement each other well. It could result in getting access to additional resources for development and testing, as well as capital for new product development, sales, and marketing.

On a related note, Breville can also access the current customers of ChefSteps to market their own products. Also, it might take shape by integrating Breville’s Kitchen Thermometer with the ChefSteps app or perhaps giving users access to some content from a paid membership program.

Best Joule Sous Vide From Breville

We have two of the Breville Sous Vide rotators from Amazon for you to look at.

FAQ

Is ChefSteps going out of business?

ChefSteps is no longer a platform or a business. Breville Company took them over in 2019. Even their Joule sous vide, the same company also acquires these machines.

Is Breville and ChefSteps the same company?

Breville acquired ChefSteps and all of its assets. Since there was no merger, we can’t say they are the same company. It was purely a takeover, and ChefSteps is no longer a business.

When did Breville buy ChefSteps?

Breville company bought ChefSteps in July 2019. Breville is an Australian kitchenware company, and Chefstep is an American online cooking community and recipe site. 

Who is the ChefSteps guy?

Chris Young was the founder and CEO of ChefSteps. He founded the company in 2012 to help novice and home cooks learn different cooking styles, tips, and tricks.

Final Thought

Cooking is science - it’s all about Maillard reaction, electromagnetic waves, and proline-rich proteins bonding with polyphenols. Sounds panicky! That’s what ChefSteps believed and aimed at making this cooking chemical reaction fun and easy.

However, this sensational cooking platform suddenly disappeared, leaving a question to its million fans - “what happened to ChefSteps.”

Due to funding and management issues, ChefStep closed all of its operations. Moreover, in 2019, the learning community was acquired by Breville.

However, if Breville can maintain its reputation in terms of quality products, then there is no reason why we won't see more activity from them going forward.