This post is sponsored by Woolworths.
Have you been watching Recipe 2 Riches? That show on channel 10 where people pitch their recipes for mass production at Woolworths? When I saw the ad for it a few weeks ago, I was so excited.
Mr Smaggle and I are obsessed with Dragon’s Den, the British show where people pitch their inventions to a panel of venture capitalists who will then choose whether or not they want to invest their own money in the business that the contestant is pitching. It’s thrilling stuff. My most favourite thing about the show is seeing if the business actually made it and trying to buy their products online. Heaps of the businesses are food related so the only thing I’ve bought from the show is an Aquatina. Yes. I actually bought a water bottle off the TV. And I loved it. Until I lost it… but I loved it HARD before that happened.
So I was super pumped about Recipe 2 Riches. The premise is that a bunch of people compete to have their recipe selected for mass production and then once the show airs, the winning product is actually available in Woolworths for sale the very next day for a whole week. Then all the weekly winners who had their product developed go into a final competition to see who’s product will be stocked or 6 months at Woolies.
Tuesday night was condiment night. The panel of judges – Carolyn Cresswell of Carmen’s Cereal, David ‘Nobby’ Nobay known as The Ad Man and Darren Robertson from The Place Where Delicious People Live – chose 3 different condiments to go to the ‘batch up level’ where they make a huge quantity of their product. They chose Diana’s African Pickles, Steve’s Smoked Sauce and Laura’s Strawberry Chilli Jam.
The show isn’t sensationalist AT ALL, which is why I love it. There’s none of this suspenseful music, dramatic pauses and ad breaks where you’re waiting on the edge of your seat to find out who won. It’s presented honestly and quickly, which I really appreciate.
When the judges narrowed it down to Steve’s Smoked Sauce and Diana’s African Pickles, I started pre-planning our lunch the next day. I told Mr Smaggle that if Diana won, we’d have ham, cheese and African pickle toasties for lunch. If Steve won, we’d have smokey chilli burgers for lunch. It was then that he decided that Steve was his favourite.
I always find the marketing section of the show the most fascinating. I often wonder why products have such boring names. For example Steve wanted to call his sauce Sexy Hot Lips and Nobby was all ‘No.’ He said that it sounded like the sauce was going to burn him and that labeling something as ‘sexy’ is actually a huge turn off. It’s so true. I’m much more likely to buy a simple Smoked Chilli Sauce than Whiz Bang Sex Face Burn Your Mouth Out Sauce. I love it when marketing execs can show me how they tricked my brain.
In the end, Steve won and I happily skipped off the next morning to buy his Hickory Hollow Smoked Sauce. I have to admit, I was a little star struck. I was like ‘OMG! Steve’s sauce!’ because I never quite manage to regulate my physical excitement like most other adults do.
I came straight home and whipped up some burgers and slathered them in Steve’s sauce. It’s bloody good. The ingredients list is to die for – smoked red chilli, pawpaw, vinegar, garlic, lime juice and salt. No artificial preservatives or gunky stuff. Mr Smaggle was super excited to get burgers for lunch instead of our usual salad or toast and then have left overs for dinner too. He slammed through half a bottle of this stuff in 24 hours.
If you’re a hot sauce lover, you’ve only got one week to grab Steve’s Smoked Sauce before it disappears off the shelves. If you really love the product, make sure you stock up because that will support Steve in the final competition.
Do you watch the show? Have you bought any Recipe to Riches products at Woolies the next day and geeked out like a total fan girl?
Recipes to Riches airs Channel 10 Tuesday nights 7.30pm and you can head to the Woolies website to find a store near you to buy all the Recipe to Riches goodies.
This post was coordinated by The Remarkables Group.