Retail will never be the same again.
A few years ago, collaborations between an influencer and a brand were limited to a sponsored story and a promo code. Today, the power dynamic has shifted. Content creators are no longer promoting other people's brands, they are creating their own. And they're crushing it.
Contrary to what many people think, this phenomenon is not a trend to watch. It's a structural reorganization of the food market that's shaking up retail norms, reshuffling the deck of consumer trust, and posing a fundamental question to traditional manufacturers: how to compete with a brand whose CEO and marketing director have 20 million subscribers on their platforms?
Audience first, product second: an inverted model
For decades, the brand launch model relied on an immutable logic: develop a product, invest in advertising, negotiate distribution, then acquire consumers – slowly, with TV campaigns and end-of-aisle displays.
Today, creators who launch their own brands come with an advantage that money can't buy: they already have the audience, and, most importantly, trust. Not just any audience, by the way. The one traditional brands struggle most to reach: under-30s, hyper-connected, resistant to traditional advertising, but highly receptive to recommendations from their favorite creator. A consumer who has followed Squeezie for four years doesn't see an advertisement when he talks about his drink; they hear a trusted person. And this nuance is fundamental.
According to Nielsen (2024), 92% of consumers trust a creator's recommendation more than traditional advertising. In the food industry, where the act of purchase is as emotional as it is functional, this gap is even more striking.
Creators who have proven the success of this phenomenon.
Mister V / Delamama (2022)
The foundational case in France remains that of Mister V and its frozen pizzas Delamama. Manufacturers watched the launch with caution, but reality quickly caught up with them: the pizzas generate 1.4 million euros in revenue in just three months, ranking among the year's best retail launches. The marketing is unconventional, true to the creator's humorous world, the product is affordable (around 4 euros per unit), and the community fully embraces it.
The message is clear: transforming community capital into real commercial performance is possible.
Andie Ella / Milia Matcha (2023)
In late 2023, YouTuber Andie Ella, nicknamed "Madame Matcha" by her subscribers, launched Milia Matcha, her premium matcha brand. With the choice of a rare matcha Okumidori representing 1% of local production in Japan, patented recipes, and artistic direction designed to "make matcha more fun, modern, and lifestyle-oriented," all with a personal investment of 250,000 euros.
What sets Milia Matcha apart is the perfect continuity between the creator and the brand. Andie Ella isn't launching an opportunistic product to capitalize on a trend; she's been drinking matcha since childhood and has championed it in her content for years. The launch comes as no surprise, merely confirming the obvious.
After an exceptional launch, the brand continues its string of successes: products often out of stock, a pop-up in Seoul and Tokyo in May 2024, and then in Paris, where queues stretching several hundred meters formed as early as 7 AM. More recently, in March 2026, the opening of three warehouses in Europe to support international expansion.
Squeezie / Ciao Kombucha then Ciao Energy (2025-2026)
In May 2025, Squeezie launched Ciao Kombucha, with a single goal: to offer an alternative to classic sodas for a generation mindful of its sugar intake. Behind the launch was a discreet but decisive player: Banger Ventures, Cyrille Jacques' venture studio, specializing in Creator Led Brands, which handles the complete back-office operations (product development, logistics, retail negotiations).
The results exceeded all projections: €788,000 in revenue in the first month alone, then €23 million for the year in a kombucha market worth only 6 million in 2024. NielsenIQ crowns Ciao Kombucha the best beverage innovation of 2025.
Building on this success, the model gains even more momentum. On June 1, 2026, Squeezie partners with Léna Situations and Inoxtag to launch Ciao Energy : an energy drink with a more transparent and less sugary composition than market standards (4g of sugar per 100ml, compared to 11g in Red Bull), immediately available in 100% of French retailers. The result: stockouts in several Monoprix stores even before the official release date.
On the same day, also through Banger Ventures, McFly & Carlito launch Brosti, their uniquely flavored chips, in eight national retailers.
Our analysis: what it really says about influence in 2026
Trust is the new marketing asset.
What makes these launches so successful isn't necessarily the number of subscribers; it's more about the quality of the connection between the creator and their community. Andie Ella has 370,000 followers on Instagram, a far cry from Squeezie's 9 million. Yet, Milia Matcha generates revenue and queues worthy of a major brand launch. Why? Because her followers have been with her for years, know her daily life through her weekly vlogs on YouTube, and see her as a person before a brand. However, Milia Matcha has also managed to attract customers who don't consume Andie Ella's content, thanks to the consistency and quality of its products. This capital cannot be bought. It is built over time.
For brands looking for creator partners, this is the key takeaway: engagement rate and the longevity of the community/creator relationship matter infinitely more than raw audience size.
Where is the line between bold marketing and a lack of ethics?
Mohamed Henni / Klüb Kebab (2024)
In February 2024, the Marseille-based YouTuber Mohamed Henni had 10 million followers. Known for his passionate recaps of OM matches, he launched Klüb Kebab in partnership with operator No Brainer, a specialist in digital halal catering. Minimalist concept: authentic, no-frills kebabs, delivered exclusively via Uber Eats and Deliveroo.
This case perfectly illustrates the model's limitations when communication overshadows substance. In March 2024, Kylian Mbappé's lawyers sent a formal notice to Mohamed Henni for describing his bread as "as round as Mbappé's skull". The creator staged himself, went viral, and orders doubled the next day. An example where a legal incident automatically turns into an advertising campaign, but which raises questions about the solidity of a model where spectacle and ethical boundaries outweigh product quality.
The United States is already 10 years ahead.
To understand where France is headed, one must look across the Atlantic, where the phenomenon is 10 years ahead.
MrBeast / Feastables is the most spectacular example. Launched in 2022 with chocolate bars, the brand generates $250 million in sales and $20 million in profit in 2024, more than his YouTube channel's revenue.
Beast Industries is valued at $5 billion, with investors betting on a consumer goods empire rather than viral videos. In 2025, Feastables will hit the shelves of Carrefour France, with a local activation strategy through French creators (Mastu, FastGoodCuisine…).
Logan Paul & KSI / Prime has, for its part, reached $1.2 billion in revenue in 2023, in just two years, becoming one of the best-selling energy drink brands in the UK.
Emma Chamberlain / Chamberlain Coffee also demonstrates the long-term trajectory: launched in 2020, the project evolved from an online coffee brand to the opening of a physical cafe in Los Angeles in 2025, with strategic investors on board.
These cases raise a direct question for the French market: if France follows the same trajectory with a 10-year lag, where will we be in 2030?The creator economy continues to surprise us; it's time to take it seriously.
