Aussie home cooks now have the chance to bring home the bacon, as the format for the hit Canadian show Recipe to Riches was sold to Australia’s Network Ten. The show is set to premiere in spring 2013.
Recipe to Riches is a reality competition series created by Toronto-based Temple Street Productions that sees home cooks battle for a cash prize and the chance to have their recipes turned into products that are sold in Loblaw’s stores as part of the President’s Choice line.
Recipe to Riches Australia has partnered with supermarket chain Woolworths and will be produced by FremantleMedia Australia. (FremantleMedia acquired the format and licensing rights to the show in March). Sales of the format have also been made in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, where a local version launched in August.
“It’s very rare to see Canadian content and formats be sold externally. More often than not, we’re an importer of formats,” said Tony Chapman, founder of Capital C, which owns half the international revenue stream of the show. Temple Street owns the other half. “Just the fact that it’s hit three markets alone is a very proud moment for Temple Street and us as investors and Canadian content.”
Given the success of Recipe to Riches in three markets so far, “you’re going to see the same success [in Australia] and the show is going to be the American Idol of food,” said Chapman, who is also a judge on Recipe to Riches in Canada.
The Canadian series, now in its second season, airs on Shaw Media’s Food Network. Weekly winners receive $25,000 and their family recipes are developed into President’s Choice products and sold nationwide just 48 hours after each episode airs. Viewers then vote for the grand-prize winner of $250,000.
Asked why the show has resonated with audiences both here and abroad, Chapman said, “it really touches the emotional chord that anybody in any country loves, which is that rags to riches [story].”
