Brands Embrace Gastrosexuals

September 22, 2008

Thanks to a study paid for by food company PurAsia, a new demographic has been named - the gastrosexual. What’s a gastrosexual you ask? It’s a new term used to refer to men who like to spend time in their kitchens, and it’s a term that brands targeted to the overall male demographic are embracing quickly.

Imagine the Porsche kitchen or Peugeot salt and pepper shakers. Don’t laugh - both are already a reality. German luxury kitchen maker Poggenpohl already created the new P7340 kitchen for the gastrosexual crowd complete with Porsche and Peugeot branded design elements and products.

Some brand extensions targeted to the gastrosexual crowd are even making it to the entertainment industry. Consider the upcoming Hell’s Kitchen or Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine video games for example. There are even websites targeted to gastrosexuals, including one named Culinary Seductions that (according to an article in Brandweek) uses the tagline, “a guy’s guide to cooking for girls.”

To be more specific, the gastrosexual demographic is made up of upwardly mobile men between the ages of 25-44. According to the study conducted for PurAsia, 53% of men claim to spend time in their kitchens cooking with more than one ingredient everyday, and the amount of time men spend in their kitchens today is 5-times greater than it was in 1961.

With more women spending more time outside of the home working, these figures are not surprising. It’s also not surprising that companies are noticing this shift and looking for ways to extend male-targeted brands into the kitchen. The opportunities are broad and deep.

What do you think? How about Harley Davidson trivets or Craftsman cookware? The possibilities are endless!

Image: Flickr

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