Introducing Dine With Me for Brands — A New Way to Meet Food Lovers at the Table

Something quiet is happening at dinner tables across Europe and beyond. People are cooking at home again — not just for themselves, but for friends, neighbours, and strangers. They’re gathering around real tables, taking turns hosting, and turning ordinary meals into something worth remembering.

At Dine With Me, we’ve watched this trend grow from the inside. Today we’re excited to open a new chapter: a partner programme that invites brands to become part of it.

A New Trend at the Table

Dine Competitions are small, friendly gatherings where six people come together around a dinner table. One cooks, the others enjoy, and over several evenings the roles rotate. Each host brings something of themselves — a family recipe, a cuisine they love, a story to share.

It’s a simple idea, but it taps into something bigger. In a world of scroll-and-swipe, people are craving presence. Real conversation. Time spent, not time scrolled. The shared meal is the oldest social technology we have, and it still works.

The best memories are made around a table. Dine Competitions give people more reasons to be there.

We’ve written before about why cooking competitions bring people together — the laughter, the vulnerability of cooking for strangers, the bonds that form over a shared dish. What started as a platform for friends has grown into something larger: a movement of people choosing home-cooked gatherings over restaurant nights.

Introducing Dine With Me for Brands

For food, drink, and lifestyle brands, this is a new kind of opportunity. Not an ad placement. Not an influencer post. A chance to be part of the evening itself — the ingredients on the counter, the cookware on the stove, the story shared over dessert.

Dine With Me for Brands is our new partner programme. It connects your brand with home cooks who are already gathering around tables, already cooking real food, already sharing real stories. Instead of interrupting a moment, your brand becomes part of it.

Here’s what partners get:

• Co-branded competitions — custom cards, themed challenges, and a dedicated space in the app that celebrates your brand alongside the cooking
• Curated audiences — thoughtful matching by city, cuisine, and lifestyle so your programme reaches the people who will truly care
• Authentic stories — real photos from real kitchens, shared by the people who lived the moment
• Meaningful recaps — participation numbers, winner stories, and content your marketing team can feature in campaigns

How It Works

The programme is simple and collaborative. We start with a conversation about your brand, your audience, and the values you want to celebrate. From there, we shape a programme together — choosing themes, regions, prizes, and the length of the season. Your team stays close to the experience throughout.

Each competition is a small gathering of six cooks over a series of evenings. Everyone hosts once, everyone cooks once, and at the end of the season the group celebrates together. Along the way, your brand is woven naturally into the experience — as an ingredient, a theme, a prize, or a supporting presence.

At the end of the season we share a recap: the photos, the recipes, the winners, and the stories. Moments your team can carry forward into campaigns, case studies, or simply internal inspiration.

Who It's For

The programme is designed for brands that care about people and storytelling. It works especially well for:

• Food and drink brands — pasta, olive oil, wine, cheese, spirits, condiments. Any product that naturally finds its way into a home-cooked meal.
• Retailers and supermarkets — grocery chains, specialty food stores, and premium ranges looking to connect with customers beyond the aisle.
• Cookware and kitchen brands — pans, knives, small appliances, tableware. Anything that belongs on a host’s counter.
• Food publishers and media — recipe magazines, food blogs, cooking shows that want to meet their audience in the kitchen.

If your brand shows up at the table, we’d love to talk.

What's Next

The partner programme is live today. The simplest next step is to visit the partner page and start a conversation. No commitment, no hard sell — just a warm exchange about what Dine With Me could look like for your brand.

We’re also announcing a parallel programme for companies and HR teams. If you’re thinking about how to bring your own people together around a table, read our announcement for teams.

And if you’re new to Dine With Me, our piece on why dinner competitions bring people together is a good place to start. It’s the story behind everything we do.