Habit is betting on culinary credibility as a retail differentiator, launching Habit & Co., a chef-in-residency platform designed to bring rotating, chef-developed menus to grocery shelves. The inaugural collaboration features celebrity chef Jet Tila and his Korean Street Menu, with nationwide availability beginning July 22.
The Chef-in-Residency model positions Habit & Co. as a revolving innovation engine rather than a static SKU lineup — a structure increasingly attractive to category buyers looking for differentiated velocity drivers on crowded planograms. By anchoring launches to named culinary talent, Habit aims to generate earned media lift and consumer trial that a traditional TPR or end-cap program alone cannot deliver.
Category Context
The move arrives as Korean-inspired flavors continue to outpace broader ethnic-flavor growth in syndicated scan data, with Circana tracking double-digit velocity gains in Korean-flavor SKUs across the refrigerated and frozen aisles over the past two years. Chef-branded or chef-endorsed products have demonstrated measurable halo effects on ACV penetration, particularly in natural/specialty and conventional grocery channels where shoppers index higher for culinary provenance.
Jet Tila — a Food Network personality and recognized authority on pan-Asian cuisine — brings existing consumer awareness that reduces the education burden at shelf. For retail partners, that recognition can support stronger in-store display placement and secondary merchandising opportunities beyond the primary planogram slot.
Distribution Outlook
Habit's nationwide rollout signals broad channel ambition from day one, though door count and specific retail banners have not been disclosed at launch. If the platform follows the pattern of similar chef-collaboration CPG lines, initial distribution will likely concentrate in conventional grocery and natural/specialty accounts before expanding into the mass and club channels as velocity data accumulates. The residency format — implying future chef rotations — also gives retail buyers a reason to revisit shelf allocation with each new collaboration, a structural advantage for maintaining planogram real estate over time.
For category managers tracking emerging brands and innovation in the grocery space, the Habit & Co. model represents a template worth watching: lean SKU count anchored by high-profile culinary talent, designed for turns-driven reorder rather than promotional price-in mechanics. The format aligns with broader retail merchandising trends toward storytelling at shelf and reduced reliance on slotting-fee-heavy launch strategies.
Habit & Co.'s success will ultimately be measured in scan data — whether Jet Tila's name and the Korean Street Menu's flavor profile convert browsing shoppers into repeat buyers at full retail price.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
