Gourmia has entered the ceramic-coated air fryer segment with its 9-Quart Digital Air Fryer (GAF998), available exclusively to Costco members in warehouses and on Costco.com for $59.99 — a distribution-first move that reflects tightening retail partnerships across the kitchen appliance category.
The Brooklyn-based brand, known for positioning air fryers at accessible price points through major club and mass channels, is betting that Costco's captive membership base is the right launch vehicle for a premium materials upgrade. Heshy Biegeleisen, Founder of Gourmia, framed the decision around shifting consumer scrutiny: "Consumers are paying more attention to the products they bring into their kitchens, including the materials used to manufacture those products."
The Product Positioning
The ceramic coating distinguishes the GAF998 from Gourmia's existing PTFE-lined lineup, addressing a growing consumer preference for alternative nonstick surfaces in both residential and light-commercial contexts. The 9-quart square basket accommodates up to a 6-pound whole chicken, six salmon fillets, or a 9-inch pizza — capacity specs that speak directly to high-volume household use and the kind of batch-free prep operators running small commissary or catering setups also value.
Beyond materials, the unit adds three customizable favorite presets and CookFlow™ progress bars — on-screen indicators that track preheating and cooking stages visually. The FryForce 360° Technology™ circulates air for even crisping with little to no oil, and a 450°F maximum temperature gives users added headroom for browning and crisping. A built-in window with interior light, a turn-food reminder, and dishwasher-safe removable components round out the feature set.
What This Signals for Operators
The Costco-exclusive launch strategy is worth watching. Club-channel exclusives have become a reliable proving ground for kitchen electrics brands before broader retail rollout — a pattern seen across the countertop appliance category over the past several years. At $59.99, the GAF998 undercuts most ceramic-coated competitors by a meaningful margin, which positions Gourmia to capture price-sensitive buyers who are nonetheless moving away from traditional nonstick coatings.
For foodservice-adjacent operators — boutique hotels with in-room or grab-and-go programming, smaller catering operations, or culinary education facilities — air fryer procurement decisions are increasingly intersecting with the same materials-safety conversation driving menu and packaging changes. The ceramic nonstick trend is not isolated to consumer retail; it is showing up in operator purchasing conversations as wellness-forward positioning becomes table stakes across hospitality segments. Brands and procurement leads tracking the kitchen equipment and supplies space should note that Gourmia's move signals the ceramic segment is maturing enough to justify mass-channel exclusives at sub-$60 retail.
Distribution intelligence also matters here. Costco's warehouse model compresses the channel between manufacturer and end user, giving Gourmia real-time volume signal at scale before any broader retail expansion. Operators evaluating appliance vendors or tracking consumer trends in food preparation will find that ceramic-coated surfaces are moving from specialty positioning into mainstream category expectations faster than most procurement timelines anticipated.
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.
