TV3 Takes Fresh Approach to Cooking Shows

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Thursday 30 January, 2014

TV3 Takes a Fresh, Kiwi Approach to Cooking Shows with ‘the Great Food Race’

Let the games begin!  The Great Food Race, the brand new show from the makers of The Block NZ premieres this Sunday, at 7pm on TV3.

Hosted by Zoe Marshall, The Great Food Race blends food, entertaining, racing and travel in a brand new competition.  There are no restaurants and no dreams of becoming a professional chef.  Instead, the contestants are inspired by great home cooking, love entertaining and enjoy providing their guests with an experience to remember. They believe that they can provide these things anywhere in New Zealand – or the world.

Eight teams of two from around the country, consisting of partners, lifelong friends and in-laws must showcase their skills to prove their worth, and impress judges Lorenzo and Leonardo Breslin with their cooking expertise and hosting abilities.  And they’ll be challenged to do so at surprise locations across New Zealand – and overseas.

Paul Maher, Chief Executive - MediaWorks TV says TV3 is proud to be launching a truly ‘made in New Zealand’ format that takes the traditional cooking show to a fresh, exciting place.

“In recent years, The Block NZ and The X Factor NZ have captured viewers’ imaginations, delivered massive audiences, hit new levels of social media engagement – and demonstrated TV3 is the best in the market in bringing local versions of the big international formats to Kiwi screens. The Great Food Race is our first foray into a major homegrown format. 

“Creating a brand new format from scratch is exciting and challenging in equal measure. I want to acknowledge producers Eyeworks (who also make The Block NZ for us), the team at TV3, and our key commercial partners.  Broadcast Sponsor Countdown and Programme Partner Air New Zealand have both shared in our vision for The Great Food Race, and their commitment is key to what I know will be a successful first season.”

Broadcast sponsor Countdown is at the heart of home cooking for 2.5 million New Zealanders every week.   Bridget Lamont, General Manager for Marketing – Countdown, says Countdown is the perfect partner for a truly New Zealand show full of creative and inspiring meal ideas. 

“The Great Food Race brings together the very best elements of some of our favourite reality TV shows and combines them in a unique new format that both entertains and highlights great food from great home cooks across New Zealand.
“The Great Food Race presents a fantastic opportunity for Countdown to bring Kiwis creative recipe ideas made by, and for, home cooks. We know from past experience how much our customers love food television so from the outset The Great Food Race appealed to us because it takes the challenge of home cooking to new heights.”

Countdown’s sponsor activity includes featuring recipes from each week’s show in-store and online, making it easy for customers to pick up the ingredients and recreate the meals for themselves.  

Programme Partner Air New Zealand will be celebrating its involvement in The Great Food Race with special fare offerings throughout the season. 

Air New Zealand General Manager Market Development and Retail Sales Annabelle Fowler says: “Air New Zealand is excited to be on board as a partner of The Great Food Race, which will showcase some of the amazing destinations we fly to and everything they have to offer from food and wine to adventure. 

“We look forward to following the show and will be offering viewers special tactical fares throughout the season.”

The Great Food Race is an original format produced by Eyeworks for TV3, with Broadcast Sponsor Countdown, and Programme Partner Air New Zealand.

ENDS

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