NEW YORK & BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With its portfolio of food properties that reaches an audience of more than 30 million, Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) today announced that it is expanding the company's food content capabilities in Birmingham, Alabama, with the addition of FOOD & WINE. Launched last year, the Birmingham-based state-of-the-art facility features 28 test kitchens, 13 photo and video studios and an expansive showcase kitchen and tasting room for demonstrations and events. FOOD & WINE will also continue to have a strong presence at Time Inc.’s headquarters in New York. With this strategic move, James Beard Award winner Hunter Lewis, Editor-in-Chief of COOKING LIGHT, assumes the added editorial leadership role of Editor-in-Chief of FOOD & WINE. FOOD & WINE's digital enterprise will be led by Stacey Rivera, who is being elevated to Digital Director, Food, Time Inc. Rivera now oversees the company's entire portfolio of digital food properties, including COOKING LIGHT, MYRECIPES, EXTRA CRISPY, Time Inc.’s digital food desk and the recently launched social video brand, WELL DONE, which has garnered over 265 million Facebook views in three months. The appointments of Lewis and Rivera are effective immediately. FOOD & WINE's advertising and marketing team will remain in New York. Nilou Motamed, FOOD & WINE’s Editor-in-Chief since early 2016, has decided she will be the leaving the company.
“We are leveraging the best of both our Birmingham and New York food operations to strategically position ourselves for future success. Given our talent, cross-platform content capabilities and passionate audiences, we believe we can bring even more clout, scale and creativity to this popular and important category. Hunter Lewis spent years as a restaurant cook before becoming an award-winning editor. The combination of Hunter’s impeccable credentials to lead FOOD & WINE and Stacey's proven record for optimizing digital food content across video, social and mobile gives us the ideal team for this dynamic and beloved brand. Hunter and Stacey themselves live the FOOD & WINE lifestyle, and they understand the special quality of this audience, with its abiding passion for experiencing the very best, whether at home, at restaurants and bars or on their travels,” said Nathan Lump, Time Inc. Luxury & Lifestyle Editorial Director. “I want to thank Nilou for her leadership, her vision and her many contributions in moving the brand forward. We wish her well."
With its highly acclaimed FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen and FOOD & WINE Best New Chefs, among other award-winning events and initiatives, FOOD & WINE reaches an audience of more than 25 million.
Lewis commented, "As a passionate cook and journalist, I’m thrilled to lead FOOD & WINE during such a dynamic time, when sophisticated food and drink consumers are everywhere now. This strategic move and editorial presence in both New York and Birmingham will allow us to super serve them as we continue to grow the brand’s reach. We’ll do this by tapping Time Inc.’s deep bench of food talent, including the incredible roster at FOOD & WINE, with star power like Gail Simmons and Ray Isle, and also at Time Inc. Food Studios, where we create amazing recipes, photographs and videos at a scale no other media company can match. I’m thrilled to collaborate with Stacey and the team to create even more of what the FOOD & WINE audience wants."
Rivera said, “The tremendous opportunity and potential of its Food Studios, the scale of its audiences, its social footprint and the incredibly talented staff are what drew me to Time Inc. Collectively, we can harness our powerful assets on every platform to serve our audience from all food entry points—whether in video, healthy food ideas, chef insights or just dinner tonight. Leading the FOOD & WINE digital presence is an honor. Hunter’s partnership, enthusiasm and flat-out food skills are a constant inspiration, and we look forward to crushing video and social with Digital Director Danica Lo and the FOOD & WINE digital team."
Lewis has served as Editor-in-Chief of COOKING LIGHT since 2014. Under his leadership, the brand has garnered four prestigious James Beard Awards and an ASME nomination in the Personal Service category for "The Healthy Cook's Guide to Fat" from its November 2016 issue. He was also responsible for putting First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover of the March 2015 issue. Before COOKING LIGHT, Lewis had been Executive Editor of Time Inc. sister brand SOUTHERN LIVING since 2012. He also served as Food Editor of Bon Appétit and Kitchen Director of Saveur. Lewis has collaborated on a variety of cookbooks, including FOOD & WINE Best New Chef Jonathan Waxman’s "A Great American Cook" and "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook" by Matt and Ted Lee. He also cooked in Waxman’s New York City’s kitchen at Barbuto and other restaurants nationwide. He began his career as a journalist at the Herald Sun newspaper in Durham, NC.
Rivera joined Time Inc. as Digital Content Director of COOKING LIGHT and MYRECIPES in 2015 and enlarged their social footprint by more than 90%. In January 2017 she began managing the daily flow of food editorial across a dozen brands at Time Inc. Rivera, who previously was Director of Content Operations at Bon Appétit, received a BA in English from New York University and a diploma in pastry and baking arts from the Institute of Culinary Education. During her career, she has worked at Cigar Aficionado, Hamptons Country, Latina, CafeMom and other media properties.
ABOUT TIME INC. FOOD STUDIOS
Located in Birmingham, Alabama, the Time Inc. Food Studios are a state-of-the-art facility featuring 28 test kitchens, 13 photo and video studios, a prop and styling studio, an outdoor grill/BBQ station and an expansive showcase kitchen and tasting room for demonstrations and events. Powered by a talented team of test kitchen professionals, stylists and photographers, the Time Inc. Food Studios are the country’s premier creative hub, producing thousands of world-class recipes, images and related content annually for Time Inc.’s print, cookbook, digital and social platforms.
ABOUT FOOD & WINE
FOOD & WINE is the ultimate authority on the best of what's new in food, drink, travel, design and entertaining. FOOD & WINE has an extensive social media following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Snapchat. FOOD & WINE includes a monthly magazine in print and digital; a website, foodandwine.com; a books division; plus newsletters, clubs, events, dinnerware, cookware and a restaurant partnership, Chefs Club by FOOD & WINE. FOOD & WINE is a registered trademark of Time Inc. Affluent Media Group.
ABOUT TIME INC.
Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is a leading multi-platform media company that engages over 170 million consumers globally every month. The company's influential brands include PEOPLE, TIME, FORTUNE, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, INSTYLE, REAL SIMPLE, SOUTHERN LIVING and TRAVEL + LEISURE, as well as more than 60 diverse international brands. Time Inc. offers marketers a differentiated proposition in the marketplace by combining its powerful brands, trusted content, audience scale, direct relationships with consumers and unique first-party data. The company is home to growing media and platforms, including digital video, OTT, television, licensing, paid products and services and celebrated live events, such as the TIME 100, FORTUNE Most Powerful Women, PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s Sportsperson of the Year, the ESSENCE Festival and the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen.
